2022 Stanley Cup Final Preview

Well, hockey fans, we finally made it. It's been a gritty, rough, and spectacular season of hockey, but after six months of regular season action, and three thrilling playoff rounds, we are down to the final two teams left standing in the National Hockey League. The Stanley Cup Final is the ultimate ending to a thrilling sport; the culmination of a season of blood, sweat, and tears. Each of the teams involved enter the Summer Classic needing only four wins to capture the ultimate prize, the greatest in all of professional sports: the Stanley Cup. It's hard to win the Stanley Cup, and it's every bit as hard to get to the Final, but these two teams managed to battle their way to this pivotal point. They are as follows:

Tampa Bay Lightning

Getting to the Stanley Cup Final is very difficult, but it hasn't been hard for the Tampa Bay Lightning. The amazing thing about this year's Lightning is that they had a rough road to the playoffs. Though it was a foregone conclusion that they would be playoff bound, the Bolts faced being one of the Eastern Conference's Wild Cards. They managed to climb into the Atlantic Division's Top 3 late in the season, and their road back to the Final began with a thrilling seven-game win over the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Atlantic Division Semifinals. The Lightning swept their in-state rivals, the Presidents' Trophy winning Florida Panthers, in the Atlantic Division Final, and needed six games to defeat the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference Final. The Lightning became the first team to play in three straight Stanley Cup Finals since the Edmonton Oilers did so from 1983-1985, and have a chance to win three straight Stanley Cups--a feat that hasn't been accomplished since the New York Islanders won four in a row from 1980-1983.

The Lightning are led by Nikita Kucherov, who has racked up 23 points in this playoff run. 16 of his 23 points are assists, but out of the seven goals scored, five of them have come on the power play. Interestingly, Kucherov is the only Lightning player scoring at least a point per game; Ondrej Palat is right behind Kucherov with 16 points (eight of each), but he has come through in the clutch during this run. Steven Stamkos has 15 points, nine of them are goals, with two of them coming in the series clinching Game Six against the Rangers. Unsurprisingly, Victor Hedman leads Tampa Bay's defensemen with 14 points (2 G/12 A).

Also unsurprisingly, Andrei Vasilevskiy has been tearing it up in net. His numbers entering the Final: 12-5, 2.27 GAA, .928 SV%, and one shutout (taking place in Game Four against the Panthers). Players such as Pat Maroon (who is looking for his fourth straight Cup), Brandon Hagel, Nick Paul, and yes, even Corey Perry (who is in his third straight Final with his third different team) have come through in the clutch, but one player they are hoping to have back with them is Brayden Point. Point only racked up four points in the seven game series against the Maple Leafs, though one of them was an overtime winner in Game Six. Since his injury during Game Seven, Point has not played, and even though Tampa Bay is 8-2 without Point, his presence is still missed.

Colorado Avalanche

I'm still on Cloud Nine over the Colorado Avalanche being in the Stanley Cup Final. I still remember the words that Nathan MacKinnon uttered after another second round loss a year prior: "I've been here nine years, and I haven't won shit." MacKinnon was angry, and that anger motivated him and the team to become outright dangerous. The Avalanche set new franchise records in wins and points in the regular season, and were in the Presidents' Trophy race until they semi-intentionally fell back during the final week of the regular season. Fans wondered if that final week was a harbinger of more disappointment, but we would be appeased with this amazing run. The Avalanche swept the Nashville Predators in the Central Division Semifinals, won a six game Central Division Final over the St. Louis Blues, and swept the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference Final. This is the team's third appearance in the Stanley Cup Final, and their first since 2001.

The Avalanche's points leader during this run is Cale Makar with 22 points (5 G/17 A), with ten of them coming in the opening round alone! Makar is one of five players putting up a point per game; the aforementioned Nathan MacKinnon has 18 points, with 11 of them being goals. Gabriel Landeskog has 17 points (8 G/9 A), and Mikko Rantanen also has 17 points. Only five of Rantanen's points are goals, but they have been coming in the later parts of this run. Nazem Kadri has 14 points in 13 games played, and the Avs have had depth scoring from players such as J.T. Compher, Valeri Nichushkin, Devon Toews, and especially Artturi Lehkonen, who (for the 2nd straight season) scored in OT to send his team to the Stanley Cup Final.

Goaltending, however, has been quite interesting for the Avalanche. Darcy Kuemper has been the teams main netminder, but Pavel Francouz would see action during the playoffs due to Kuemper's eye injury that occurred during Game Three against the Predators. Francouz had to finish Game One against the Oilers and won in relief, and spent the remainder of the West Final as the starter. Kuemper's numbers: 6-2, 2.65 GAA, .897 SV%. Those last two numbers are suspect, but Kuemper has done enough to get his wins. As for Francouz: 6-0 (including two wins in relief), 2.86 GAA, .906 SV%, and he has the team's only shutout win (Game Two vs the Oilers). It's the definition of a team effort, but the Avs have their own wonders about an injured player. Nazem Kadri missed Game Four vs the Oilers, and many are wondering if he'll play in the Final, with the same wonder being about Andrew Cogliano as well.

The Tampa Bay Lightning and the Colorado Avalanche are both juggernauts this season, but how they've gone about getting to that point couldn't be anymore different. The Bolts have relied on goaltending, while they also have the offense to get things done. The Avs are basically offense-laden beasts; pelting the opposition with shots while the goaltending does just enough to help the team win. It's one of many reasons why this Final will be amazing. Plus the added bonus of Makar vs Hedman in regards to top defensemen. Regarding TV rights, the Stanley Cup Final will air on ABC in its entirety, marking ABC's first Final since 2004. This is the first year of ESPN and Turner Sports' deal with the NHL, which includes taking turns airing the Final, so next year, it will be TNT having the final round. Oh, and one more thing: both teams touched their respective conference trophies, so this will be another year that the superstition will be thrown out!