By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
Well, the Vegas Golden Knights are the answer to this question: What NHL club was the last team to beat the Colorado Avalanche in the Stanley Cup playoffs?
That’s my Las Vegas spin on this NHL season’s playoffs after the Avs overcame a first period deficit to defeat the two-time defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning in Florida Sunday and take the Stanley Cup trophy back home to Denver. It’s the third time the Colorado franchise has won the Cup.
The Avs responded to a 1-0 deficit after period one with period two goals by Nathan MacKinnon and Artturi Lehkonen. Colorado had won nine of the previous 10 playoff games after leading after two periods.
Make that 10 of 11 — with the tenth resulting in the Avs players hoisting the Stanley Cup inside Amalie Arena in downtown Tampa’s Channelside district.
Final score in Game 6: Colorado 2 Tampa Bay 1.
Colorado won the Stanley Cup Final in six games, racking up a sterling record of 16-4 through the NHL’s arduous four rounds of playoff hockey. The Avs defeated Nashville, St. Louis and Edmonton before polishing off the Tampa team seeking a three-peat after Stanley Cup Final wins over Dallas in 2020 and Montreal in 2021.
The Avs blew through the two-month post-season with a fast-skating, skilled team that added more physical play after the Golden Knights knocked out Colorado in six games in the second round last season.
The Bolts of Tampa scored an early goal on Steven Stamkos’ in-close shot that slipped past Avalanche netminder Darcy Kuemper. Game 6 was not even four minutes old.
You knew Ric Flair appreciated Stamkos’ 11th post-season goal.
Down three games to one, the Lightning squeezed out a clutch 3-2 win Friday to extend the series to today’s contest.
Early in period two, the Avalanche’s talented MacKinnon scored a blocker side goal on Tampa Bay goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy and Colorado deadlocked the game at one at 1:54 of the third period.
At 12:28 of the middle stanza, Lehkonen scored.
It turned out to be a Stanley Cup-winning goal.
“It’s disbelief. It’s crazy,” MacKinnon told ESPN after the win. “Words can’t describe it.”
Colorado Avalanche owner Stan Kroenke is also the owner of the NFL Los Angeles Rams, which won the NFL title only four months ago. So Kroenke, known for bringing his German Shepherds to home games, has savored two championships in two different major leagues this year.
After two years plus of dealing with a COVID-19 pandemic, the NHL allowed family members to be on the ice to celebrate the Stanley Cup championship once again after Colorado’s Game 6 victory.
The NHL provided some great stats on Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, “The Big Cat,” who skated in his fifth game while facing elimination since the start of his first championship run in 2020. Over that span, Vasilevskiy has been unbeatable when Tampa Bay’s season is at stake and nearly perfect when he can clinch a series.
* After amping up his teammates before Game 5, Vasilevskiy proceeded to make 35 saves and boost his stats in “must-win” games over the past three years to include a 1.33 goals-against average, .956 save percentage and one shutout.
* With his timely saves and laser focus, the reigning Conn Smythe Trophy winner has rebounded from losses in each of his first three career elimination games and now owns a 4-3 record in such contests (2.07 GAA, .926 SV%, 1 SO).
But two goals yielded were one too many for Vasilevskiy.
Avs defenseman Cale Makar, who won the Norris award as the league’s best defenseman, also took home the Conn Smythe trophy as the Stanley Cup MVP.
“This is something you dream of,” Colorado General Manager Joe Sakic said of the Stanley Cup title. Sakic led the Avs to Cup wins in 1996 and 2001.
*
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman did not present the Stanley Cup to the Avalanche. He has COVID-19.
LVSportsBiz.com’s coverage of the 2022 Stanley Cup Final presented by real estate agent Liz Lane of Las Vegas and ISM bicycle saddles of Tampa