*Photo from the Los Angeles Times*
Colorado wins series 4-2
Over two decades since they last did it, the Colorado Avalanche are champions again. Nathan MacKinnon scored, Artturi Lehkonen scored the winning goal, and the Avalanche defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning with a 2-1 victory on Sunday night in Tampa Bay.
With the win, the Avalanche claim their first Stanley Cup win in their first appearance since 2001, where they also won the Cup. In 3 appearances in the Cup Finals as a franchise, the Avalanche have won all 3, becoming the first active NHL team to win all of their Cup Finals appearances.
Colorado head coach Jared Bednar said that "There's a huge sense of satisfaction. Relief is part of it right away when I heard the buzzer go. I'm just so proud. Really, honestly, I'm just so proud and excited for our guys to get rewarded."
The only goal of the first period came from Steven Stamkos, who scored 3:48 into the game to give the Lightning an early 1-0 lead. In the second period, MacKinnon got the Avalanche on the board 1:54 into the second, tying the game 1-1. At the 12:28 mark of the second, Lehkonen scored the eventual game winning goal, making it a 2-1 game.
It was quite the road to the Stanley Cup for the Avalanche. After 3 straight second round exits in the playoffs, the Avalanche finished off the regular season with the best record in the Western Conference and the second best record in the NHL. Once they got to the playoffs, it was all Avalanche. They brushed aside the Nashville Predators, beat the St. Louis Blues in 6 games, swept the Edmonton Oilers, and now have toppled the two time defending cup champions in 6 games to win the Stanley Cup.
Avalanche captain Gabe Landeskog said that "Management has believed in us, committed to us and we've grown together, and even when we had three straight exits in a row in the second round, we stuck together and we didn't blow it up. We didn't try to change things. We stuck with it. We brought in some really, really, really high-character pieces that just wanted to win. They just wanted to do whatever they could to win, and they were the difference for us."
Prior to the trade deadline, the Avalanche were already a quality team, but what they did at the deadline likely pushed them over the top. They made moves to acquire Lehkonen, Josh Manson, Nico Sturm, and Andrew Cogliano, and each of those players had an impact on the team in the playoffs.
Getting the start in net for the Avalanche was Darcy Kuemper, who did his job in net to clinch the Stanley Cup. Kuemper saved all but one of the 23 shots that he was faced with, posting a .957 save percentage in the win.
MacKinnon said of winning the cup on the road that "Honestly, it was heartbreaking not winning it in Denver. It just felt like a lot of pressure that day. We were supposed to kill them, and it was tough after that game, but we rebounded. We had some good meetings. That's what's so great about our team, a lot of great leadership and we found a way to bounce back tonight. So it feels great."
Starting in goal for the Lightning was Andrei Vasilevskiy, who saw his unbeaten streak while facing elimination in the playoffs come to an end. Vasilevskiy stopped 28 out of the 30 shots on goal the Avalanche had, recording a .933 save percentage in the season ending l oss.
Stamkos, the Lightning captain, said that "We were pushing and pushing. We had so many guys battling. We worked our butts off. That's what makes it tougher because you know how hard it was to get here."
Up next, the offseason begins for both teams and kicks into full swing for the whole league. The Avalanche will look to keep as much of the band together as possible come free agency, while the Lightning pick up the pieces and look to make another run next season.
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