By STEPHEN WHYNO
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Nathan MacKinnon couldn’t discover the phrases. Gabriel Landeskog cracked a smile and a joke.
After years of playoff disappointments, the Colorado Avalanche are again atop hockey’s mountain after dethroning the two-time defending champions.
Behind a objective and an help from MacKinnon, the Avalanche received the Stanley Cup for the third time in franchise historical past and first in additional than 20 years by beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 in Game 6 of the ultimate Sunday night time.
“It’s just been building over time,” playoff MVP-winning defenseman Cale Makar mentioned in regards to the Avalanche’s journey. “I’ve been here only three years. A couple of tough exits in the playoffs. It was just all leading up to this.”
It’s the primary title for the Avs’ core group led by MacKinnon, captain Gabriel Landeskog, Mikko Rantanen and Makar, and it follows a number of early postseason exits — within the second spherical every of the previous three seasons and the primary spherical in 2018. The 2016-17 staff was the worst in hockey, ending with simply 48 factors.
“It’s hard to describe,” mentioned MacKinnon, who led the way in which within the clincher by blocking pictures and taking huge hits along with his offensive manufacturing. “Some tough years mixed in there, but it’s all over now. We never stopped believing.”
With a mixture of velocity, high-end expertise and the expertise gained from these defeats, Colorado broke by means of this time — incomes each little bit of the championship by knocking off a deep and gritty staff that hoisted the Cup the previous two years.
“To beat them is probably a little more satisfying, to be honest, because they are champions,” mentioned veteran ahead Andrew Cogliano, who hoisted the Cup for the primary time at age 35. “They know how to win. And, ultimately, when you can beat the champions, you know you really earned it.”
Like the Avalanche absolutely anticipated, it wasn’t simple.
An early turnover by Makar led to a straightforward objective by Steven Stamkos, placing Colorado in a gap and several other extra bumps and bruises adopted. The Avalanche tied it when MacKinnon beat 2021 playoff MVP Andrei Vasilevskiy with a near-perfect shot and went forward on one other huge objective by commerce deadline acquisition Artturi Lehkonen. They locked issues down by holding on to the puck and held Tampa Bay with no shot on Darcy Kuemper till halfway by means of the third interval.
When the Lightning lastly did, he was there. Brought in from Arizona in a commerce final summer season to shore up the game’s most necessary place, Kuemper was strong once more and made his most necessary save with underneath seven minutes left when he slid over to disclaim star Nikita Kucherov.
His teammates completed the job and Colorado improved to 9-1 on the highway this postseason.
Much just like the Lightning went all in a number of instances by buying and selling excessive draft picks and prospects to load up for the most effective probability to win the Cup, Avalanche common supervisor Joe Sakic was not afraid to ante up in March to amass Lehkonen, defenseman Josh Manson and Cogliano. They turned the right complement to Colorado’s core that had confirmed loads of playoff promise however till now hadn’t produced a championship.
Sakic, who captained Colorado’s first two title-winning groups in 1996 and 2001, used a well-recognized recipe to get his staff over the hump. Much like Pierre Lacroix, the architect of these Avalanche groups that had a lot success after the group moved to Denver, Sakic prioritized ability, velocity and flexibility.
That velocity overwhelmed each opponent on the way in which to the ultimate, from a gap sweep of Nashville by means of a hard-fought, six-game collection in opposition to St. Louis and one other sweep of Edmonton. It was a distinct problem in opposition to Tampa Bay, when the Avalanche wanted to soak up counter-punches from the back-to-back champs to shut it out.
Tampa Bay ended up two victories wanting changing into the NHL’s first three-peat champion for the reason that early Nineteen Eighties New York Islanders dynasty.
“It stings just as much as the firs time,” Stamkos mentioned, referring to the Lightning’s loss to Chicago within the 2015 last.
Before the collection, Makar mentioned he and his teammates have been attempting to finish a dynasty and start a legacy. That legacy lastly includes a championship, thanks largely to regular coach Jared Bednar, who in his sixth season f ound a approach to focus his staff on the mission at hand from the beginning of coaching camp. Bednar turned the primary coach to win the Stanley Cup, American Hockey League’s Calder Cup and ECHL’s Kelly Cup — all after that depressing 48-point exhibiting in his first season behind the Colorado bench.
“He stuck with it, also,” Rantanen mentioned. “He had a tough first year in the league, and I did, too. I can’t believe we’re here six years after.”
Bednar received the chess match with Jon Cooper, additionally a Stanley and Calder Cup champion who is taken into account top-of-the-line tacticians within the NHL. The Lightning fell into an 0-2 gap going through their stiffest competitors since their run of success started in 2020 after which went down 3-1 earlier than forcing Game 6.
Asked how different groups may be capable to copy the Avalanche’s success, Landeskog quipped, “Get a Cale Makar somewhere.” Indeed, Makar received the Conn Smythe after main Colorado in scoring with 29 factors in 20 video games.
Injuries that sidelined prime heart Brayden Point and restricted different key contributors proved an excessive amount of in opposition to a stacked opponent. Depth allowed the Avalanche to beat dropping defenseman Samuel Girard to a damaged sternum and end off the Lightning even with standout ahead Andre Burakovsky sidelined by damage and with Valeri Nichushkin hobbling round on an injured proper foot and heart Nazem Kadri taking part in by means of a damaged proper thumb.
The Avalanche beat the Lightning earlier than attrition might take an excessive amount of of a toll and earlier than the scary chance of going through elimination in Game 7 in opposition to Vasilevskiy. Instead, they’ll return to Denver to have a good time with the Stanley Cup. A parade is predicted on Thursday.
While not as emotional because the previous two years when Stamkos received the trophy, Colorado’s series-ending victory marks one other completion of an NHL season throughout a pandemic — the primary again to 82 video games with a traditional playoff format since 2019. It was not with out its stumbles, together with suspending dozens of video games and pulling out of the Olympics. Commissioner Gary Bettman wasn’t even in a position to hand the Cup to Landeskog as a result of he examined optimistic for the coronavirus, leaving deputy Bill Daly to do the honors.
The Avalanche and Lightning handled occasional tough ice taking part in late into June, one thing that ought to not occur once more because the league will get again to its common schedule. When that occurs, Colorado will get the possibility to defend its crown and try to comply with Tampa Bay in changing into a perennial Cup contender.
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AP Sports Writer Pat Graham in Denver contributed to this report.
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Follow AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno on Twitter at https://twitter.com/SWhyno
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More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Source: www.bostonherald.com