Avalanche (1C) at lightning (3A)
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Colorado tops Top 7 series 2-0
The Tampa Bay Lightning knows they’ll need more than a boost from their fans in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Colorado Avalanche at Amalie Arena on Monday.
After losing the first two games of the series at the Ball Arena in Denver, including 7-0 in Game 2 on Saturday, Tampa Bay will be hoping to return to playing the organized defensive game that it served so well during the first three rounds of the Stanley Cup. playoffs.
“We’re not in a do-or-die situation right now, but let’s go out there and find our best game right now,” Lightning forward pat maroon He said. “They haven’t seen our best, so we’re excited. Hopefully we can show them our best tonight.”
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Tampa Bay 7-1 on ice at home, including a win seven in a row since Game Three of the first round of the Eastern Conference against the Toronto Maple Leafs. However, the avalanche is 7-0 on the road, so they are comfortable being a visitor in a hostile environment.
“Part of that is staying put,” said Avalanche coach Jared Bednar. “Part of it is no matter where we play with our identity, playing with the right amount of detail and competitiveness, and we’ve done that on the road this season, not just at home. It changes a lot for us. It’s about us and what we have to do to succeed. “.
Teams that advanced 3-0 in the Best of 7 Cup final won 27-1 (.964) in the series. Teams that advance 3-0 in any round are 199-4 (.980), including 3-0 this postseason. (The avalanche swept the Nashville Predators in the first round and swept the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference final. The Lightning swept the Florida Panthers in the second round.)
Here are 3 keys to the game 3:
1. Start on time
Getting off to a better start is essential for Lightning after Avalanche took a 2-0 lead at the opening 9:23 from their 4-3 overtime win in Game 1 and 2-0 after 7:55 in Game 2.
Rather than just trying to weather an early storm, lightning needs to play more at the end of an avalanche than a disc drop. Colorado scored a solid first-half goal in each of their first two games, so avoiding early penalties will help, too.
“Just simplify our game and please don’t take a penalty in the first five minutes of the game,” Tampa Bay coach John Cooper said. “When you pull the disc out of their hand, you don’t give them the momentum they want. But give them credit, it’s a great trait to have, which is to start fast and play with the lead. It would be nice to have these guys chasing a one-off game for us.”
2. Burakovsky and Point availability
Andrei Burakovsky “We’ll see,” Bednar said when asked if the striker would play on Monday. Burakovsky left Game 2 after hitting his hand with a shot from the Lightning defensive man Victor Hedman early in the second period.
Burakowski was expected to join the Tampa avalanche on Monday after staying home to be evaluated on Sunday, but he didn’t arrive in time for morning skiing. He made a huge impact in the first two games of the final, scoring the winner in overtime in match one and having a goal and assist in match 2.
“It’s going to be a test, but it’s something we haven’t seen before,” the Colorado striker said. Gabriel Landskog He said about the possibility of playing without Burakovsky. “…who was ready to go. It’s no different tonight.”
Cooper said Brayden Point The game time decision will be after the striker missed the morning skate. Point played the first two games of the final after missing 10 matches due to a lower body injury he sustained in Game Seven of the first round.
3. Generate more shots
Avalanche goalkeeper Darcy Comber He faced 23 shots on target in games 1 and 16 in Game 2, when he earned his second close in the final game of his National Hockey League career. Lightning was limited to 29 shooting attempts in Game 2, when the avalanche was 60.
Tampa Bay hopes to get Kuemper to work harder in Game 3.
“We need more shot volume,” Maron said. “We need more attempts to get into the net. We need to scramble in zone D. It feels like they are easy to rush in now and I think this will be the start: get the pucks early, go through the check, slow down their D speed until They can’t get on the ice. I think the last game they beat us on the ice a few times. … and most importantly, just get that ball right away and slow down their attack. The longer we play attacking, the better (for us) because they can’t Go and move when attacking.”
Predicted lineup avalanche
Gabriel Landskog – Nathan McKinnon – Valery Neshushkin
Nicholas Ob-Kobel – JT Comfier – Miko Rantanen
Alex Newhawk – Darren Helm – Arturi Laconin
Andrew Cogliano – Nico Sturm – Logan O’Connor
Devon Toze – Cal Makar
Jack Johnson – Josh Manson
Bowen Byram – Eric Johnson
Darcy Comber
Pavel Francos
scratched: Justus Announen, Ryan MurrayAnd the Curtis McDermidJacob MacDonald and Jason Megna
The injured: Samuel Gerrard (rib cage) Nazim Qadri (hand), Andrei Burakovsky (upper body)
Expected lightning lineup
Ondrej Balat – Stephen Stamkos – Nikita Kucherov
Brandon Hagel – Anthony Cirelli – Alex Killorn
Ross Colton – Braiden Point – Nicholas Pol
Pat Maron – Pierre Edouard Bellemare – Corey Berry
Victor Hedman – Jean Rota
Ryan McDonagh – Eric Cernack
Mikhail Sergechev – Zach Bogosian
Andrei Vasilevsky
Brian Elliot
scratched: CalfootFrederic Cleason Riley Nash
The injured: no one
case report
Landeskog (maintenance) has not participated in the morning skating but is expected to play. …Nash will be in the lineup if Point is unable to play.
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