Colorado Avalanche is the Stanley Cup champion. Avalanche played in Game 6 at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, winning 2-1 and leaving behind a tremendous amount of hardware.
Colorado has completed a series of Stanley Cup runs in Tampa Bay and won the third championship in franchise history.
Thanks to Captain Stephen Stemkos’ goal, Lightning jumped into a 1-0 early lead. However, Avalanche took over the game from there. Colorado dominated the second phase and was rewarded with goals from Nathan McKinnon and Arturi Rekonen. Avs took a 2-1 lead in the locker room and shut down Lightning from there.
Colorado completely suffocated Tampa Bay in the third phase. Lightning did not shoot Darcy Kaempfer until the regulation was about 10 minutes left. Unsatisfied with sitting and waiting for the clock to stop, Avs remained aggressive for the last 20 minutes, which made Lightning’s life very difficult. Even in the empty net situation, Tampa Bay was unable to take high quality shots at Darcy Kaempfer.
After finishing at the bottom of the NHL ranking just five years ago, Avalanche held the Stanley Cup for the first time since 2001 and played against one of the greatest teams of the salary cap era.
Avalanche completes reconstruction
In the 2016-17 season, Avalanche became the worst mark in the NHL, 22-56-4. Just five years later, the team is skating the Stanley Cup around the Amalie Arena after knocking off Tampa Bay Lightning.
General manager Joe Sakic planned the avalanche team and did it perfectly. Colorado has only risen since that terrible year of 2016-17, which began with the summer draft. Avs actually ranked fourth overall in the draft draw, but it worked because the team drafted Cale Makar, who had just won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the postseason. The jump began rebuilding Colorado, and the franchise didn’t look back from there. This Stanley Cup has been made for several years due to an avalanche, but is probably not nearing completion.
Nathan McKinnon accomplishes that
The first five games of this Stanley Cup Finals had to be frustrating for McKinnon. Entering Game 6, he had only one goal with 28 shots, but he continued to chip and made the biggest difference in Avalanche with a series clinch victory.
McKinnon has been the heart of Avalanche throughout the rebuilding and has grown into the top five players in the league. Despite his bad luck at the Stanley Cup Finals, McKinnon remained calm and refused to be frustrated. In Game 6, McKinnon scored a goal to connect the game and Reconen assisted the goal to win the game. Given how much McKinnon means for an avalanche, he was the only one to play in this game.
The end of an impressive run in Tampa
Tampa Bay Lightning has won only two wins in a row to win the Stanley Cup three times in a row, which has only been done five times in NHL history. Although this loss is devastating, Lightning still managed one of the most striking practices of the salary cap era.
Lightning won the 11th playoff series. This is a monumental feat given the constraints that salary caps, free agencies, expansion drafts, and pandemics have imposed on teams in recent years. From general manager Julian Brisbore to head coach John Cooper to the players, it’s commendable all over the world to have achieved this consistently over three years. I think Tampa Bay will go somewhere soon. It would be a mistake to think otherwise. The team is still full of talent, but we can still appreciate the awesomeness of each of the last three postseasons.
