Avs a win away from dethroning Lightning, preventing three-peat

Cale Makar and the Colorado Avalanche weren’t all that interested in glancing back at the simmering controversy over the way Game 4 ended in overtime.

Of way more importance was looking ahead to this: A chance to clinch the franchise’s first Stanley Cup title since 2001. In front of their home fans, too, where ticket prices have soared to more than $1,300 for an upper-level seat.

On Friday night in

Game 5, Colorado has a chance to not only dethrone two-time defending champion Tampa Bay, but also possibly jumpstart its own dynasty. behind a core of young, dynamic players like Makar.

“It’s going to be the toughest one that we’ve had so far,” said Makar, whose team leads 3-1 in the best-of-seven series and boasts a 3-1 mark in close-out games this postseason. “We have to expect them to bring obviously everything they have at us because it’s do-ordie. We just have to be ready.”

The Lightning were unhappy with how things ended in overtime on Wednesday night. Nazem Kadri, injured thumb and all, scored the winner on a shot that slipped under the right arm of goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy.

Tampa Bay’s gripe: The Avalanche appeared to have too many players on the ice.

A day later, Lightning coach Jon Cooper softened his stance.

“It’s unfortunate but it’s water under the bridge now,” Cooper said. “It should be a hell of a Game 5.”

All Colorado needs is one win in three tries — two at home — for its third Stanley Cup title since relocating to Denver from Quebec in 1995-96. The Avalanche swept Florida in its inaugural season and earned title No. 2 in ‘01 with a Game 7 win at home over the New Jersey Devils.

Back then, Hall of Fame forward Joe Sakic was leading the charge on the ice.

Now, his fingerprints are all over this fast-flying team as the general manager. He saw five players he picked up right before or during the season combine for five points on the tying and winning goals in Game 4. Kadri was acquired by Sakic as part of a deal with Toronto in 2019.

Sakic assembled this squad around playmakers such as Makar, captain

Gabriel Landeskog, Mikko Rantanen and

Nathan MacKinnon. They’ve been a big reason why this team is 15-3 in these playoffs and on the verge of knocking off the champs.

ELSEWHERE

NFT deal: The NHL, NHL Players’ Association and NHL Alumni Association are teaming up to get hockey into the NFT marketplace.

The organizations announced a multiyear deal Thursday making Sweet their official digital collectibles partner. While not confirming exact terms, NHL executive VP of business development and innovation Dave Lehanski said the lucrative agreement is one of the biggest licensing deals in league history and Sweet CEO Tom Mizzone called it a “very favorable deal” for all parties.

The partnership by the league, NHLPA and alumni is a rare sight but one that could help grow revenue moving forward, especially after pandemicrelated losses kept the salary cap at $81.5 million for each of the past two seasons.

NHL Alumni Association executive director

Glenn Healy said, “This collaboration has been worth the wait.”