The morning after, Westword offered a helping hand to newbies with our list of ten things non-hockey fans need to know about the Avs. But now there's a new challenge: getting up to speed on the Tampa Bay Lightning, Colorado's opponent, in advance of the first game at Ball Arena, getting underway at 6 p.m. today, June 15.
The bad news: The Lightning is a two-time champ. The good news: The Avs players are more than capable of defeating Tampa Bay, as they did the two times they met during the regular season.
Time is short, so we've put together a roster of the five most important elements that make the Lightning strike. They won't transform you novices into instant experts, but you should be able to hold your own at the office or at watch parties during what we hope will be the march toward another parade for the Avalanche.
Here's what you need to know:
Tampa Bay's Andrei Vasilevskiy with the Conn Smythe Trophy he won in 2021.
A native of Russia, Andrei Vasilevskiy hasn't won the Vezna Trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League's top goaltender, since 2019. But that's more about the NHL's general managers, who vote for the prize and want to spread the wealth, than evidence that the still young Vasilevskiy (he's just 27) is slipping in ways that have nothing to do with ice. He might not be a brick wall with legs, but close enough, and he's at his best when the pressure's peaking, as indicated when he received the Conn Smythe Trophy, awarded to the Stanley Cup victor's most valuable player, last year. During the 2021-2022 regular season, he notched a stellar 2.49 average of goals allowed per game; during the playoffs, he's been even better, improving that stat to 2.27 goals allowed per game. He's the main obstacle standing between the Avs and the Stanley Cup, and he won't be easy to overcome.
2. The Lightning specializes in getting defensive....
Given Vasilevskiy's skills, the Lightning's strategy focuses on a defense-first mindset. The concept calls for the squad to play at a deliberate pace and minimize rivals' scoring opportunities while getting just enough biscuits in the basket to secure victory — and that's the way things have worked out thus far during this year's post-season. Tampa Bay skated against the scorching hot Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round, and when Vasilevskiy uncharacteristically gave up five goals in two of the first three games, the Lightning suddenly looked vulnerable. But the defense tightened up after that — particularly in game seven, when the Maple Leafs managed only one goal. Next came a sweep of the Florida Panthers, which notched a total of three goals in four games, and a 4-2 series win over the New York Rangers, with Vasilevskiy only surrendering a single goal in each of three contests.
The Avs are an offensive juggernaut, so if the Lightning can shut them down in a similar way, it will deserve the Cup.
Nikita Kucherov was so happy about winning the Stanley Cup last year that he forgot his shirt.
Over the three rounds of the playoffs, the Lightning's most productive player has been another Russian native, Nikita Kucherov, who has 23 points to date — an achievement that should surprise absolutely no one. After all, he was the NHL's top scorer during the 2018-19 campaign, stacking up 128 points. Kucherov's totals have gone down since then, but that's owing more to Tampa Bay perfecting its defensive style than any deterioration on his part. The Lightning's other double-digit points producers in the playoffs include veteran left-winger Ondrej Palat (16 points), center Steven Stamkos (15 points) and the unit's top defenseman, 2020 Conn Smythe trophy winner Victor Hedman (14 points), all of whom are battle-tested and dangerous around the net.
4. The Lightning is on the cusp of a dynasty
Less than a decade ago, Tampa Bay was lousy. The squad failed to make the playoffs in both 2012 and 2013, and lost in 2014's first round before taking things to the next level. The Lightning fell short of the mountaintop several times, losing in the Stanley Cup finals in 2015 and the Eastern Conference finals in two of the next four years. But in 2020, the unit came out on top by dimming the Dallas Stars; it repeated the feat in 2021 against the Montreal Canadiens. That makes this year the Lightning's fourth chance to vie for the Cup in eight years — and the third in three straight years. Damn.
5. Tampa Bay has plenty of incentive to beat the Avs
Despite being a two-time champ, the Lightning still qualifies in some quarters as underrated. Why? Tampa Bay's first cup was won in the NHL bubble created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, when no fans were present, against the aforementioned Dallas Stars, who overachieved merely to reach the finals. And the next year, the Lightning matched up against the Canadiens, who represented a classic Cinderella story; Montreal was the lowest-seeded playoff participant, with the league's eighteenth best record out of 31 franchises. But those glass slippers proved fragile, and the Lightning cruised to a 4-1 series triumph.
The Avalanche is far and away the best team the Lightning will face in the finals since at least the 2015 series, when Tampa Bay was bested by a great Chicago Blackhawks lineup. Should Vasilevskiy and company three-peat, they'll add legitimacy to claims that they're among the best teams of the era.
And if they don't? Then the Avs will be viewed as giant killers fully capable of making even more history in the future.
