The Stanley Cup champion may have been in trouble. But the Tampa Bay Lightning, the winning streak of consecutive titles, went home and reduced his two-game deficit to one, defeating the Colorado Avalanche. 6-2 In the game Monday 3.
It wasn’t just the two-game deficit in the Stanley Cup Final that worried Lightning fans, it was the cause of Avalanche’s victory. Colorado jumped to the early lead in both games, and in Game 2, took control of Tampa Bay. goalkeeper lightning Andrei Vasilevskyone of the best post-season goalkeepers in NHL history, scored seven goals on Saturday.
But on Monday, it was the Colorado goalkeeper who was feeling the pressure. Darcy Comber He was pulled when Tampa Bay led 5-2 past the halfway point per second.
Here’s what happened when Lightning made it happen again on the ice at home in Game 3.
We have a series
Colorado is in a somewhat uncharted territory.
The avalanche hasn’t lost since May 25 before falling 6-2 on Monday. They didn’t lose in the post-season by that large margin. Kuemper was withdrawn, placing a cloud over their target. All these deep points dried up. It was all bad.
Tampa Bay was a force. It should have been a delightful victory—except for the loss of lightning Nicholas Pol And the Nikita Kucherov For injuries visible in this process. Kucherov was knocked out late in the third period after being handcuffed Devon Toze along the boards. Paul left in the second half immediately after scoring a goal.
It was the first loss on the road that Colorado had suffered in the playoffs, but the Avs still topped the series, 2-1. Tampa Bay remains perfect at home in the post-season. What does that portend for Game 4 on Wednesday? stay tuned – Kristen Shelton
Tampa Bay came to play
As John Cooper said before Game Three: “These guys are a team, but we are. And we’ve been in these places before.”
He is right. The lightning was down before. They have been counted before. Like those sites, reports of their demise in the Stanley Cup Final seem greatly exaggerated.
The second period under review: pic.twitter.com/d10Uflmrsp
– Tampa Bay Lightning (TBLightning) June 21 2022
Just like Lightning who came back from 2-0 down the road in the Eastern Conference Final, it looks like they’re a different team in Game 3 against Avalanche. Mustered 16 rounds in Game 2; They pumped 26 shots into the avalanche target tonight. They earned 50% of their shot attempts in two stints after only getting 29% in the second game. They finally made one count in the third game. Their stars were kept in check in Denver; Nikita Kucherov, Stephen Stamkos, Ondrej Balat, and Victor Hedman all enjoyed multi-point games.
Oh, and perhaps most importantly: They scored six goals, two in the avalanche, and chased away Colorado goalkeeper Darcy Quimper in the process.
“We have to go out there and find our best match now,” Pat Maron said before the third game, to which he contributed with an attacking goal. “They haven’t seen our best. So we’re excited. Hopefully we can show them our best tonight.”
Within 40 minutes, they showed something close to it. But there’s still another 20 minutes left, and Avalanche is one of the few teams that can bridge the four-goal gap. – Greg and Shinsky
Colorado down big through two
Jared Bednar did not hesitate. When Lightning took a 5-2 lead over the halfway point in a second, Darcy Kuemper was knocked out after allowing five goals on 21 shots. Pavel Francos got approval.
It had to be done.
Kuemper was sharp early in the first period but became a burden. He couldn’t stand the pressure of Lightning, and Colorado (perhaps not coincidentally) wasn’t playing confidently in front of him.
This was the first match at some point that Kuemper was really called upon to step up. Tampa Bay trailed in the Cup Final 2-0 and everyone knew the blow was coming. The avalanche hasn’t faced much adversity lately, and Kuemper, who only saw 16 shots in Game 2, hasn’t coped well.
Granted, Colorado doesn’t do much to help any of the Internet makers. Lightning flipped the script from Game 2 and wins races and battles. They beat Colorado at their own game. And Andrei Vasilevsky seems locked up again. This might be worse for the avalanche than seeing their initial struggle. – Shelton
Lightning in the lead by one
For many of them, Lightning’s first stint felt more like survival than a determined response to lead the 2-0 streak into the avalanche. They needed Andrei Vasilevskiy’s toe to save JT Compher about four minutes into the match. They needed the NHL standings room to get Valeri Nichushkin’s goal off the board thanks to offside. They needed an unconventional “no shot” goal from Anthony Cirelli to poke past Darcy Quimper for the first goal since the second half of the first game.
But then, in a flash, they seemed like lightning again. Ondrej Palat steals the disc from a Devon Toews pass. Nikita Kucherov attracts defenders to him in the attacking area. Stephen Stamkos assisted the direction in making it 2-1, as the unknown winger netted a point in his ninth consecutive home game. Vasilevsky maintained the lead against more Colorado pressure, with Afs scoring 14 shots on target in the period.
Lightning 6-1 when they advance after one period. More importantly, they did not track multiple goals after the first 10 minutes of the game in this series. Small victories. – Wyshynski
The avalanche is receding
Valery Neshushkin thought he scored the first goal of the match with a variable shot that beat Andrei Vasilevsky early in the first half.
It was Tampa Bay who would get the change.
The Lightning successfully defied the play as an offside, taking the wind off the sails of Colorado in what was a frame steered mostly by Tampa Bay.
It didn’t last long, though. Colorado is a resilient team as you’ll find it and show it again in overcoming both Tampa Bay’s initial push and early strength play opportunity. Not only did the avalanche stop the lightning, but a penalty kick was also taken. Gabriel Landeskog scored on the man advantage that followed to turn the tides on Tampa Bay.
It was the ninth consecutive missed goal that Colorado had scored in the series.
It’s been nine minutes and it has shown the best of Colorado: depth, fortitude, talent, and identity.
The avalanche will need more of those parts as night falls. They have gotten dirty over time. And it was Lightning who benefited from achieving two goals. Colorado hasn’t had much trouble lately. Between the inverted goal and being behind in the cup final for the first time, how will they manage a real challenge now? – Shelton
famous fans
The Colorado Rockies pitcher and home of Denver Kyle Freeland He popped into the crowd cheering his hometown band.
Friendly faces in enemy territory 🥰
Thanks for showing up and showing up! MustafaHosny Oh God, Amen!#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/TRCh5VEmNY
– Colorado Avalanche June 21 2022
Did someone say “chicken parm”?
Peanut butter and jelly. Batman and Robin. John Buccigross and chicken parm. The tradition of teams serving Buccigross with the meal continued before the third game. Lightning even co-stars with the mascot, ThunderBug.
With a side of fur just for Tweet embed 🤌 https://t.co/MMpSvWf4Gr pic.twitter.com/BPqyhMr9nA
– ThunderBug (ThunderBugTBL) June 20 2022
In case you need a better look, Greg Wyshynski will have you covered.
ESPN Behind the Scenes: Preparing Chicken Parm forTweet embedON THE POINT, filmed in Super Sauce Vision! pic.twitter.com/zr4uiiFYme
– Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) June 20 2022
Tampa Bay is below but not outside
Is the situation perfect? no. Is the series over? far from it. Will the Lightning hype video get Tampa Bay fans ready to run through the wall before the disc drops? likely.
Rewrite the story. ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/AwMiVyTMrY
– Tampa Bay Lightning (TBLightning) June 20 2022