No Cinderella here; NHL’s best to clash
Beat Colorado, and Tamp Bay has its dynasty
DENVER — Nathan MacKinnon wouldn’t have it any other way.
He and the Colorado Avalanche have stubbed their toe many times in the playoffs over the past 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 Tampa Bay Lightning to win this core group’s first title.
“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.”
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 in the salary cap era and would join the company of hockey dynasties if they become the first to three-peat since the New York Islanders lifted the Cup four times in a row from 1980-84.
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 defending champion Detroit in the final. The Lightning are the first team since Wayne Gretzky’s Edmonton Oilers from 1983-85 to reach the final in 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,” Colorado 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 predicted to do the same.
Colorado instead lost in the first round in 2018 and the second each of the past three seasons. Much like Tampa Bay getting swept in the first round in 2019, those defeats have strengthened the Avalanche.
“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 years I think has made us a stronger group, a more resilient group.”
The Lightning know all about resilience. They needed to overcome series deficits of 3-2 against Toronto in the first round and then 2-0 to the New York Rangers in the East final. They even trailed in the third period of Game 7 at the Maple Leafs.
“That’s been a big theme of ours is 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. ... When there are no tomorrows, they gave us two more months of tomorrows.”