Lightning’s three-peat quest begins final test in Denver

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 defending champions and hockey’s best in the West begins with Game 1 tonight 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 final. “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 final three consecutive years since the cap was put into place in 2005, but also the first in league history since Wayne Gretzky’s Edmonton Oilers from 1983-85.

The Lightning are looking to become the first to three-peat since the New York Islanders won the Cup four times in a row from 1980-83.

This is Tampa Bay’s fourth trip to the final 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.

Mackinnon, Gabriel Landeskog, Mikko Rantanen and the Avalanche have until this point only experienced the playoff low, bowing out in the first or second round each of the past four years while the Lightning were making long runs.

“That’s what every team is trying to (do) is not just to get there but stay there and be relevant every season,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “They’re in all the conversations as one of the best teams in the league and then go out and prove that they are one.”

The Avalanche aren’t there yet, but they’ve come a long way in the decade-plus since veteran defenseman Erik Johnson arrived at the start of a seven-year run with just one playoff appearance.

“There’s been a lot of ups and downs,” Johnson said. “We’ve been knocking on the door here the last couple years. Some injuries and things that happened along the way, you never know if that opportunity’s going to come.”

Only the Avalanche, looking for the organization’s first championship since 2001, stand in the way of the Lightning hoisting the Cup a third consecutive time.

CHRIS O’MEARA/AP Steven Stamkos (with the Prince of Wales Trophy after the clincher against the Rangers in the East finals) and his Tampa Bay teammates are trying to become the first team to win three titles in a row since 1983.