Well, well, well. It seems the Lightning players heard everything bad said about them the past few days. And they took it personally as the Lightning held off the Avalanche’s high-powered offense to win 6-2, keeping this series still in reach. It is about time they decided to show the world why they are the two-time defending Stanley Cup Champions.
The Lightning started this game faster and more determined than they looked in Denver. They were even able to get shots on Darcy Kuemper! Yeah, not really something to cheer about, but they were having a really rough time of it in Colorado.
However, tonight was different. Either the Lightning players, especially their star players, at last decided to show up for these finals, or they realized that a loss tonight doomed any hope of a threepeat. Even still, the Bolt let up the first goal again. Lucky to avoid being down to an early offside Valeri Nichushkin goal, the Lightning were rightfully punished by a Gabriel Landeskog powerplay goal.
The Lightning must stop giving the Avalanche needless powerplays, as they have shown they will ruthlessly punish the Bolts with every chance they get. If the Lightning aren’t careful, they might find themselves out of this series on PP goals-against alone.
Anyway, the Lighting did something tonight which has been missing from them all series long. They showed determination in the face of adversity. The Bolts quickly responded to the Avs goal by scoring two of their own, one from Cirelli and one from Palat. Funnily, that Palat goal gave the Lightning their first lead of the series. No doubt it was a long time coming for all Lightning fans.
Nevertheless, the Lightning took the lead into the 1st intermission. And they kept it for the rest of the game. Nick Paul, who was clearly playing through a tremendous amount of pain, gave the Lightning another goal before Landeskog scored yet another Avalanche powerplay goal. Like I said, the Bolts really need to stay out of the box.
Luckily, if you are a Bolts fan, it did not cost them in this game as they went on a scoring tear right after. Stamkos, Maroon, and Perry all score within the 2nd period to give the Lightning a 6-2 lead, leading to Darcy Kuemper’s early pull.
If the Avs have a potential major issue, it could be their goaltending. They were able to cover up any weakness by blitzing the Lighting at home, but when Tampa fought back like they did tonight, they showed Kuemper is not invincible. Avs’ fans should be worried if Kuemper continues to struggle.
6-2 was how the game finished. The Avs pressed hard in the 3rd, but they could not score. Tonight, clearly showed the Lightning will not be swept, and still have fight left in them. Still, it may have not of been the Avs night, but they showed in that 3rd period and on their powerplay that they are lethal when given a chance to score.
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