At long last we finally had a close, gritty game in the Stanley Cup Finals. And it was none other than the returning Nazem Kadri to bury a fantastic snip under Vasilevskiy’s arm to win Game 4, giving Colorado the 3-1 series lead.
Unlike Game 1, where Tampa Bay came storming back after going down 3-0, this game was close throughout. Tampa Bay got off to an extremely early lead (only 36 seconds into the 1st Period) off a Cirelli rebound tap-in, even though Darcy Kuemper’s mask came off before the puck went into the net.
I’m still not quite sure why that goal was allowed as whenever a goalie loses their mask, the referee is supposed to halt play. Anyway, the puck went in, the ref kept the whistle in his pocket, and Tampa Bay scored the first goal in a game for the first time this series.
The Avalanche tried pressing back against Tampa for the rest of the 1st, but the Lightning pushed just as hard. In truth, the Lightning were pressing for a 2nd goal a lot more than the Avalanche for the tying one. It was clear the Bolts were desperate to win this game, and it showed on the shot counter.
It was a great performance by Tampa Bay in the 1st, with each member of the team willing to block shots, take hits, battle for 50-50 pucks, etc. in a must win game.
The 2nd was not so good for them. The Avalanche must have had an earful from Jarred Bednar as they were flying coming out for the 2nd Period. Reversely, the Lightning eased up on the Avalanche, letting Colorado start raking up shot after shot on Vasilevskiy
And, as Tampa has done all series long, they took a dumb penalty. And, as Colorado has done all series long, they made the Lightning pay.
Nathan MacKinnon FINALLY scored in the Stanley Cup Final, though it was definitely not a MacKinnon classic. The puck ended up deflecting off his skate and sliding past Vasilevskiy for what feels like the Avalanches’ 300th powerplay goal this series. However, the Lightning were not going to go down quietly like they did in Game 2.
Victor Hedman, who had his best game of the series yet, skated from his own blue line, deking past two Avalanche players, to go on and flip a backhand shot past Darcy Kuemper to give the Lightning the lead again.
It was a fantastic goal from a player who has been uncharacteristically struggling in the Stanley Cup Finals. Even though he was the man to take the penalty for the Avs first goal, he more than made up for it with his goal.
But that was where all the joy ended for any Lightning fans. From this point on, the Avs took over. They knew if they won this game, the Stanley Cup would all but be in theirs. Outshooting the Lighting17-6 in the 2nd Period, the Avalanche did all but tie the game in those twenty minutes of domination.
Then the 3rd Period started, and Nico Sturm scored for the Avalanche to tie the game only three minutes in. Yet, the Lighting were able to recover from losing the lead for the second time and started applying some pressure on Colorado’s defense.
However, this time Darcy Kuemper came to Colorado’s rescue. He was fantastic, stopping 37/39 to have an outstanding .949 SV%. Still, with both teams unable to score another goal, the game went to OT. And, like the 2nd Period, the Avs had the majority of the shots and chances.
They should have won the game when Bowen Byram rang the puck off the crossbar as he had Vasilevskiy sprawling. Nonetheless, Byram’s miss didn’t hurt them as Nazem Kadri spilt the Lightning defense to go one-vs-one on Vasilevskiy and ripped a great shot right underneath the Tampa Bay netminders’ arm.
His shot was so good that it got stuck within the netting and the inside goalpost, causing a few moments of confusion before the Avalanche eventually figured out that they had won the game in Tampa Bay.
This win puts the Avalanche only one more victory away from their third Stanley Cup in franchise history and they deserved it. The Avalanche were the better team overall, dictating play far more often than the Lightning.
Now, with Game 5 in Denver, the Avalanche have the chance to finally end the Lightning’s three years of dominance and put down the two-time defending Stanley Cup Champions for good.
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