Avs blocking road to Lightning repeat
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 Finals 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 on Wednesday 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.
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 Finals three consecutive years since the cap was put into place in 2005, but 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.
“There’s still some games to be played and we’re still not at the end of our goal, but in saying that, this group is pretty amazing,” said Stamkos, who scored twice Saturday in the clinching 2-1 victory against the Rangers. “We’re going to the Finals again, and we have a chance to do something really special.”
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 previous 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.”