I did not see that coming. The Colorado Avalanche completely dismantled the Tampa Bay Lightning 7-0. Yes, you read that right. 7-0. I can’t believe that Tampa Bay played EVEN WORSE in Game 2 than they did in Game 1. And they were definitely bad in Game 1.
There was not one point in this entire game where I thought Tampa Bay had even the smallest of chance of winning. That is how thoroughly outplayed the two-time defending Cup Champions were. Before I could blink, the Lightning were already down 1-0 on a Valeri Nichushkin powerplay goal only three minutes into the game. I barely had a chance to sit down and watch before the Avalanche were pounding Tampa Bay into a new dimension.
And it only got worse for the Lightning. After the 1st Period, Tampa Bay was down by 3-0 off an Andre Burakovsky rebound goal. For two games in a row, The Lightning allowed another three-goal-against first period. Remember, that was something they had not done since Vasilevskiy took over the net 8 years ago.
I have never seen the Lightning so badly outplayed in a playoff game since they were swept by the Blue Jackets in 2019.
Reversely, every single Colorado player was on fire tonight. It didn’t matter what line the Avalanche put out against the Lightning, because they were guaranteed to have at least two A+ chances each shift. That is how great Colorado looked.
Speaking of great, Cale Makar showed why his is now the best defensemen in the NHL. He stopped each and every Lightning rush against the Avalanche net whenever he was playing, to then go down 200ft and set up A+ chances shift after shift. There was no stopping Makar tonight.
With him adding another two goals tonight to his playoff totals, he now has the Avalanche all-time playoff points record for a defenseman (plus, he leads the Avs with 24pts this postseason too). And it is only Game 2.
He probably already has the Conn Smyth Trophy on lock (if the Avs win, which doesn’t seem too farfetched now), but he will have a hard time adding too much to his record totals. He’ll be lucky if this series goes another three games the way the Avs have dominated.
As for the Lightning, they looked defeated and tired. They gave up this game once that Burakovsky goal went in, which should really concern all Lightning fans. This team may have gotten off to a slow start against the Rangers as well, but New York was nowhere near as deadly as Colorado is on offense.
Every mistake the Lightning made this game was punished, which is why they were humiliated tonight. The difference between the Eastern Conference Finals and the Stanley Cup Finals for the Bolts is that the Rangers couldn’t capitalize on the Tampa’s mistakes; on the other hand, the Avs are capitalizing on each one.
And that is something Jon Cooper has to fix before Game 3. If he can’t correct this team’s constant turnovers problem and motivate them for a must-win Game 3, then this series is over before it started.
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