NHL: Tampa Bay Lightning vs Colorado Avalanche | 23 June, 8 AM (PST)

[Mary C]

POTENTIAL STARTING LINEUPS: 

TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING: 

C | Steven Stamkos 

LW | Ondrej Palat 

RW | Nikita Kucherov 

LD | Victor Hedman 

RD | Jan Rutta 

G | Andrei Vasilevskiy 

 

COLORADO AVALANCHE: 

C | Nathan MacKinnon 

LW | Gabriel Landeskog 

RW | Valeri Nichushkin 

LD | Devon Toews 

RD | Cale Makar 

G | Pavel Francouz 

 

 

Following their first win in this series, the Tampa Bay Lightning has three wins if they plan on besting the Colorado Avalanche in a best-of-seven series. Colorado leads with 2-1 after beating the St. Louis Blues and has clear plans of disposing of Lightning all the same. Will the Avalanche win this series per usual, or will the Lightning tower over one of the giants in the NHL and prove themselves just as mighty?  

 

Boasting 56 wins and 19 losses, Colorado Avalanche dominates the Western Conference’s Central Division and places second in the league with 119 points. For their team statistics, the team scores 3.76 Goals per game, 35 Shots per game, 67 Power Play Goals, and a 79.7 Penalty Kill Percentage. On paper, they’re objectively better than their opponents, but as well all know, numbers aren’t an end-all-be-all in almost every situation, especially in sports. This doesn’t mean we should discount these stats as an advantage, though. Avalanche currently has two players listed in their injury report: Samuel Girard who broke his sternum back in their third match against the Blues and Matt Calvert due to undisclosed but lingering concerns.  

 

Tampa Bay Lightning looked especially bad during game 2 in a 7-0 loss. With 51 wins and 23 losses, the team is third in the Eastern Conference’s Atlantic Division and eighth in the NHL. Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman stand as the team’s score leaders with Stamkos for points and goals and Hedman for assists. Stamkos has racked up 106 points, 42 goals, 64 assists, 16 PPG, and 241 shots on goal. Hedman has collected 65 assists and PPA. Lightning has drastically improved their defense in game three which offers them more than a fighting chance against Avalanche in the ongoing series.  

 

Now, we take our pick. Tampa Bay has been playing sublimely this postseason, but Colorado’s offense is explosive as ever. With this, we see the Avalanche winning game four. Lightning’s defense has improved, but that doesn’t mean it will be consistent throughout, especially against Avalanche. They might be able to slow them down at best, but Lightning has quite the way to go. It’s Colorado Avalanche for this one. 

 

8 AM (PST), June 23, 2022, Amalie Arena, Tampa City, FL.