Stanley Cup Final Game Two: Bombardment!

Since around 5-10 minutes after Andre Burakovsky his OT goal in Game One, I had my thoughts and concerns about Game Two. As a Colorado Avalanche fan, I was wary. This is the Tampa Bay Lightning, the back-to-back defending Stanley Cup Champions. They are going to want to bounce back from that defeat, and Andrei Vasilevskiy will look to get some semblance of payback. I figured that the Avalanche would be in for a hell of a challenge in Game Two.

Boy, was I mistaken!

It took only 61 seconds into the game for the Avalanche to receive their first power play, and at 2:54, Valeri Nichushkin puts it in for his seventh goal of these playoffs, and his second of the Final. So it was 1-0 just like that, and it was Josh Manson who made it 2-0 barely over five minutes later. The Avalanche had another power play due to Mikhail Sergachev (who tied Game One in the second period) shooting the puck over the glass, but that gets killed off. However, the aforementioned Andre Burakovsky made it 3-0 at the 13:52 mark, and those three goals were scored on eight shots. 3-0 was the score after 20 minutes, and it was a better first period from the Avs, while the Lightning were absolutely discombobulated.

It would get worse for Tampa Bay in the second period. The Lightning did get a power play, but it gets killed off, but they still maintained possession of the puck...until they didn't. Ondrej Palat turns the puck over, it ends up with Mikko Rantanen, who passes it to Nichushkin, and just like that, it's 4-0, and Nichushkin has two goals in this game. Darren Helm (one of four Avs players with Cup Final experience), made it 5-0 late in the period, and when that score happened, I literally went, "This game's done," while maintaining my shock at what I was watching. The game was done, but the Avalanche definitely were not finished yet.

The third period saw the Lightning on the power play early, but during said power play, Andrew Cogliano passes the puck to Cale Makar, and he's off and away before shooting it past Vasilevskiy. A shorthanded goal for Makar; making it 6-0. The Avs killed the rest of the power play, and things got chippy during that final frame. Colorado went on a power play of their own, and Makar struck again to make it 7-0, and that ended up being the final score. After a nail-biting overtime victory in Game One, the Avalanche lived up to their team name and put up seven on Vasilevskiy, and as a result, Colorado takes a 2-0 lead in the Stanley Cup Final.

Without question, this was the worst performance from the Lightning during this current run. They look completely and utterly lost for the entire game. They haven't played this badly in a playoff atmosphere since their embarrassing series against the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2019, and this loss is their worst playoff loss in the franchise's 30-year history. Absolutely nothing went right for the Bolts. Darcy Kuemper didn't have to do much of anything; he only faced 16 shots in net for his 2nd career playoff shutout.

I mentioned Darren Helm being one of four Avs players with Cup Final experience. The other three players: Andre Burakovsky, Andrew Cogliano, and Artturi Lehkonen. This is Helm's third appearance; he reached the Final twice in 2008 and 2009 with the Detroit Red Wings, winning in the former year. Burakovsky was part of the Washington Capitals' 2018 championship run, and for Cogliano and Lehkonen, this is a chance at payback. Cogliano was part of the Dallas Stars' run to the Final in the 2020 bubble, while Lehkonen is making his second straight appearance; he reached the Final in 2021 with the Montréal Canadiens. So far, the four of them have combined for three of the Avalanche's 11 goals in the Final, while Valeri Nichushkin has three of his own.

Game Three is Monday in Tampa.

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