Lightning, Avalanche will battle for crown
Steven Stamkos watched the Colorado Avalanche the past few years and figured he and the Tampa Bay Lightning would see them in the Stanley Cup Final before this.
The Lightning are back, looking for the NHL’s first three-peat in almost 40 years, and the Colorado core led by Nathan MacKinnon is finally playing for the Cup following a series of crushing playoff disappointments. A potentially epic best-of-seven series between the two-time reigning champions and hockey’s best in the West begins Wednesday night in Denver.
Stamkos called the Avalanche “probably the best team in the league” and knows the Lightning will have their hands full slowing down the offensive juggernaut that leads the postseason in scoring.
“There’s no secret that they have some electric players,” Stamkos said Saturday night after Tampa Bay closed out the New York Rangers in six games in the Eastern Conference championship series. “Now they’ve broken through. They just have an unbelievable mix of veteran presence, star power, grinders, a goalie. A huge challenge for us.”
It’s perhaps the biggest challenge yet for the Lightning since this unprecedented run of playoff success in the salary cap era began two years ago. Tampa Bay isn’t just the first team to go to the Stanley Cup Final three consecutive years since the cap was put into place in 2005, but the first in league history since Wayne Gretzky’s Edmonton Oilers from 1983-85.
The Lightning are looking to become the first team with three NHL titles in a row since the New York Islanders won four straight from 1980-83.
“There’s still some games to be played and we’re still not at the end of our goal, but in saying that, this group is pretty amazing,” said Stamkos, who scored twice in the clinching 2-1 victory against the Rangers.
This is Tampa Bay’s fourth trip to the title series since 2015. Stamkos, top defenseman Victor Hedman, wingers Nikita Kucherov, Ondrej Palat and Alex Killorn, goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy and coach Jon Cooper have been around for all of it, from the loss to Chicago seven years ago to two East final exits, an embarrassing first-round sweep after the best regular season in league history and the back-to-back titles.