LIGHTNING RUNNING ON FUMES

Fast, physical Avs the hungrier team in opening wins over banged-up champs

There's a mathematical formula to being physically exhausted and it goes something like this: Fatigue develops when the oxygen requirement of the active skeletal muscles exceeds the heart's capacity to further supplement oxygen delivery to exercising muscle. Once that occurs, the energy generation comes only from anaerobic metabolism, which is when your lungs cannot put enough oxygen into the bloodstream to keep up with the demands of your muscles for energy.

Or as Colorado's Mikko Rantanen put it: “I think, you know, it's physics that when you get rest you're rested.”

That's probably a better way of explaining why the Tampa

Bay Lightning, who have lost two straight to open the Stanley Cup Final, looked like they were gasping for air following a lopsided 7-0 loss to the well-rested Colorado Avalanche in Game 2.

After all, it wasn't just the milehigh altitude that has sucked the oxygen from the Lightning's lungs. In the past three years, there hasn't been much rest for the two-time defending champions. They have played far more games than any team in the NHL. And they haven't necessarily been easy games, in particular this year. There was a tough, seven-game series against the Maple Leafs in the first round. And they had to claw their way back after dropping the first two games to the New York Rangers in the East final.

That takes a toll, both mentally and physically. Add it up and it shouldn't be surprising that the Lightning are playing like a team that's running on fumes.

“The toll is taken in the playoffs. That's the toll,” Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said before hopping on a plane back to Tampa Bay for a pivotal

Game 3 on Monday.

“And the shot blocking, the groins, the hips, the cuts, the bruises, playing every second night. That's the toll. And so when you get to the end, even though it doesn't look like they're banged up, they're missing guys, we're missing guys. We've got banged-up guys. That's what the playoff toll does.”

We don't know — and we probably won't know until the playoffs end — what injuries the Lightning have accumulated in this year's post-season. But in a battle of attrition, it's clear they have accumulated a lot of extra miles on their bodies. Certainly more than Colorado, who breezed to a 14-2 record after sweeping Nashville and Edmonton in previous rounds.

Heading into the Stanley Cup Final, Colorado had been off for eight days. The Lightning enjoyed just three days of rest, which included flying halfway across the country, where they have had to adjust to a time change and a change in altitude.

“If you play every other day for a long period of time, it's going to wear you down,” said Rantanen.

“But they've been here before, they've played long seasons before, so we can't think about that too much, that we're the fresh team.”

The Avalanche look more than just fresh. They look hungry, like a team that is aware of just how close they are to winning a championship. The Lightning, meanwhile, appear to be moving in slow motion, as though they could use a nap — or a long summer of rest.

Not that anyone is using it as an excuse.

“Having the ultimate goal of the Stanley Cup in the building and there are only two teams left, that trumps everything,” said Cooper.

“I'm not a believer in `You've played a lot of hockey.' Isn't that what you want to do? I'd rather be playing hockey than having a five-month summer every year. This is what we play for. This is what we coach for.”

Still, Colorado is aware of the toll that three straight appearances in the Final has taken on Tampa Bay. Ever since the first shift in Game 1, the Avalanche has made a point of not just pressuring the Lightning with an aggressive, five-man forecheck — but also in making sure they take a body whenever they can.

The Avalanche had 43 hits in Game 1. And another 46 hits in Game 2.

Much of the abuse has been levied against Tampa Bay's defence, particularly against minute-munchers Victor Hedman and Ryan Mcdonagh. As a result, the Lightning's breakout has been a series of bad passes, turnovers and chipped pucks.

“We had the puck a lot,” Avalanche defenceman Erik Johnson said of Game 2. “I think that was a lot of it. We forechecked really, really well. We played as a connected five-man unit all over the ice. Our forecheck was probably the key. When we're pressuring the way that we have, it's tough to play against.”

What do the Lightning need to do?

Well, as Steven Stamkos said following the Game 2 loss, they need to “man up” and find that extra gear.

Based on their track record, don't be surprised if they do it.

But the more Colorado pushes the pace and finishes its hits, the more you have to wonder if there's anything left in Tampa Bay's tank to get them a third straight championship.