1 for the road: Avs try again
TAMPA, Fla. — Josh Manson still had his bags half-packed from the Avalanche’s last time on the road, when they returned home with the chance to win the Stanley Cup.
That didn’t happen, and now he and his teammates are confronted with Game 6 Sunday night against the Lightning in the arena they hoisted the Cup a year ago to become back-to-back champions. Trying to win their first title as a group and the organization’s first since 2001, the Avs know the challenge they have in front of them against a desperate opponent that has more experience this deep into the playoffs.
“You have to have that desperation because it’s the finals,” Manson said Saturday. “You can’t look at the amount of games that we have left. You have to be desperate every single game.”
The Avs would desperately like to avoid a second consecutive loss that sets up Game 7 back home Wednesday and the Lightning being one victory away from a three-peat. And they even have a recipe for handling this situation against a more seasoned opponent.
That came in the second round when the Avalanche went up 3-1 in the second round against the rival Blues — the last team to win the Cup before the Lightning’s run began in 2020. Much like Friday night, they lost a one-goal game at home to the Blues before bouncing back to close out the series on the road in St. Louis.
Manson said the Avalanche learned some desperation from that sequence, but the stakes are higher in the final with the Stanley Cup in the building.
“I know how much our guys want it now: They’ve worked for it,” coach Jared Bednar said. “There’s a certain amount of stress and anxiety that you have to try to put out of your head so you can bring your best performance.”
The Lightning know all about those mental gymnastics, including some new tricks they’ve picked up this postseason. The Eastern Conference final was the first time they trailed a series since getting swept in the first round in 2019 — the defeat that set the course for this run — and had not fallen behind 3-1 until now.
Having already staved off elimination once, and armed with the experience of winning 11 consecutive series, coach Jon Cooper and his team know exactly what to expect from each side in Game 6.
“There’s no doubt we’re better equipped in these situations because you kind of feel (like) you put yourself in the shoes of the other teams, too, and what they must be thinking, what you’re thinking when you’re in these situations and how games played out,” Cooper said.
Freshest for the Avs is the experience of blowing the chance to join the Lightning as the only teams over the past seven years to win the Cup at home. But previous playoff disappointments have steeled this core group to handle adversity, and in the immediate aftermath of their 3-2 loss in Game 5, leaders were already putting it in the rearview mirror.
“We’ll bounce right back,” captain Gabriel Landeskog said. “It’s a seven-game series. It’s not supposed to be easy, and it’s not going to be.”