Colorado blew their chance to end their 21-year Stanley Cup drought tonight, losing 3-2 to the Lightning to cause the series to head back to Tampa Bay at 3-2. Still, the Avs should not been panicking about slipping up to the two-time defending Stanley Cup Champions as they still are in the driving seat in this series. That is, as long as they win the next game.
The Avs played really well in Game 5, even though they came out second-best on the score sheet. They outshot the Lightning in every period, they outhit the Lightning, they blocked more shots than the Bolts, they were fast, dynamic, and they had all of the Ball Arena cheering them on. Yet, they still lost.
How? Well, that is the championship effect taking ahold of the naïve Avalanche. The Lightning have been in series clinching games before, especially road series clinching games. They knew how to ignore the crowd and hold on against the high-powered Avalanche.
Rallying behind the greatness of Andrei Vasilevskiy, the Lightning weathered the proverbial “avalanche” and managed to exploit Colorado’s weakness: Goaltending.
The heroic Game 4 Darcy Kuemper was away on holiday for Game 5. Kuemper let in two bad goals tonight (Rutta’s 1st Period blast and Palat’s 3rd Period game winner), each squeaking right through him. And, as per usual, Kuemper had a sub .910 SV% performance.
Considering how spectacular Vasilevskiy played tonight, Kuemper has to be more consistent if the Avs want to win the cup.
Speaking of players who need to be more consistent, what has happened to Nathan MacKinnon in these finals? More specifically, what has happened to MacKinnon’s scoring touch? He has only the one goal he “scored” (more like bounced off him) in Game 4 to his credit in five games.
I was sure that this was going to be MacKinnon’s night tonight, putting in a multi-goal game to knock off the champions and win the Avs their first cup in two decades.
But I was wrong. MacKinnon did have another assist, but that is not enough. With him averaging anywhere from 5-7 shots per night, he needs to put some of those away. If he can’t score at least two goals for however long this series lasts, then I’m not sure if the Avalanche will be able to overcome the Bolts. They desperately need MacKinnon to score.
If MacKinnon doesn’t perform goal-wise, then this series could turn from what seemed to be an impressive Avalanche victory, to one of the worst chokes in NHL Stanley Cup Finals history.
Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself. Most of the Avs star player played great tonight. Makar and Nichushkin both scored again, with each rivaling the other for the Conn Smythe trophy. Meanwhile, the Avalanche defense had an overall good game, it was just that their goalie let them down when they needed a save.
The Avs SHOULD (though, I’m not sure of anything at this point) be able to beat Tampa Bay in Game 6, despite it being played in Tampa. However, if MacKinnon and Kuemper don’t show up in the way the Avs need them to, then this series will be heading back to Colorado for a nail-biting Game 7.
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