GOOD AV-NING FOR THE NHL
No Cinderellas in the Final, just two of the best teams in the league going at it
DENVER — Nathan MacKinnon wouldn’t have it any other way.
He and the Avalanche have stubbed their toe many times in the playoffs the last several years, never getting past the second round. Now that they’ve broken through to reach the Stanley Cup Final, naturally they need to beat the back-to-back defending champion Lightning to win this core group’s first title. Game 1 is Wednesday night in Denver. “I’m glad we’re playing Tampa,” MacKinnon said Tuesday. “There’s no Cinderella story or anything: two of the best teams in the league going at it and really excited for this challenge. And it’s going to be very, very difficult, but I believe in this group, and we all believe in each other. Hopefully we get this done.”
Colorado is favored, according to FanDuel Sportsbook, but must beat an opponent that has won 11 consecutive playoff series. The Lightning have become the NHL’s gold standard for success in the salary-cap era and would join the company of hockey dynasties if they become the first team to three-peat since the Islanders lifted the Cup four times in a row from 1980 to 1984.
MacKinnon will try to follow the lead of fellow Cole Harbor, Nova Scotia, native Sidney Crosby, who won his first championship in 2009, when the Penguins beat the defending champion Red Wings in the Final. The Lightning are the first team since Wayne Gretzky’s Oilers from 1983 to 1985 to reach the Final three consecutive years.
“They’ve been the best for a while now, and we have the opportunity to kind of knock them off the pedestal,” Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar said. “We’re trying to start something special here, and they’re trying to continue something that will turn into a dynasty for them. You couldn’t write it up any better.”
This Cup showdown is one Lightning captain Steven Stamkos is surprised did not happen earlier. While he and his teammates have been making long playoff runs, the Avalanche were among the titans of the West and were predicted to do the same.
Colorado instead lost in the first round in 2018 and the second the last three seasons. Much like Tampa Bay getting swept in the first round in 2019, those defeats have strengthened the Avalanche and prepared them for this challenge.
“Certainly a lot of lessons have been learned over the last five, six years from myself, from our team going through some heartbreak in the playoffs,” coach Jared Bednar said. “Even the last couple of years I think have made us a stronger group, a more resilient group.”
The Lightning know all about showing resilience, in previous years and in this postseason. They needed to overcome series deficits of 3-2 against the Maple Leafs in the first round, then 2-0 to the Rangers in the East final to avoid elimination. They even trailed in the third period of Game 7 at the Leafs and came back to win.
“That’s been a big theme of ours — putting our stamp on history — and you can’t do that without winning and being committed and doing all the things and not exhaling,” coach Jon Cooper said. “The guys have done a phenomenal job, especially in the Toronto series when we were down 3-2. When there are no tomorrows, they gave us two more months of tomorrows.”
The Lightning finished their comeback against Toronto — and got through the next two rounds — without first-line center Brayden Point, who injured his right leg earlier in Game 7.
If Point returns for Game 1, as expected, after skating well in practice, Tampa Bay would be at full strength against Colorado, which could be without injured forwards Nazem Kadri and Andrew Cogliano and has ruled out defenseman Samuel Girard after he broke his sternum in the second round.