2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs Notebook: Colorado In Charge, Lightning Strike Back

We are into the Conference Final round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Colorado Avalanche are leading the Western Conference Final 3-0 over the Edmonton Oilers. While the Tampa Bay Lightning are back in the series against the New York Rangers as they trail 2-1 in the Eastern Conference Final. Both matchups are intriguing though were pretty one-sided until Sunday’s result. We look at both Conference Finals matchups in this edition of the Stanley Cup Playoffs Notebook. Colorado is inching closer to the Stanley Cup Final, while the champs are being put to the test by the Rangers.

Time to dive into this edition Stanley Cup Playoffs notebook.

2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs Notebook

Avalanche In Complete Control

The Colorado Avalanche are dominating their Western Conference Final matchup with the Edmonton Oilers and it isn’t even close. Colorado is showing why they were one of the best teams in the regular season. That success has carried over into the playoffs. They are such a deep team. From guys like Nathan MacKinnon to Darren Helm to J.T. Compher. However, in this series, especially, over the last two games, this Avalanche team has learned to play defence.

That was something the Avalanche did not do in the first game of this series. Coming into the series everyone expected pond hockey numbers. And we got that in Game 1 with 14 total goals. Since then things have calmed down. With the Avalanche playing defence and keeping Connor McDavid at bay. A big reason has been the play of Pavel Francouz. Francouz came in during Game 1 when Darcy Kuemper left with an upper-body injury. From there, Francouz is showing why the Avalanche has so much faith in him.

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Francouz got a shutout in Game 2 and made several key stops in Game 3, which led to the Avalanche winning the game late. For some reason, the Avalanche play better defence in front of him. Guys are selling out to block shots. Whatever, the case, Colorado is rolling up 3-0. Mikko Rantanen has goals in three straight games. As previously their depth scoring is stepping. Valerie Nichushkin scored two goals in Game 3. Nichushkin has been around the net the last couple of games. Compher scored the winner in Game 3. He has five goals in his last four games.

All the big names are stepping up for the Avalanche. But it is not all good news as Nazem Kadri is lost for the rest of the series. Kadri left Game 3 after being cross-checked from behind by Evander Kane and crashed into the boards. Head coach Jared Bednar confirmed Kadri’s status. There is the potential that Kadri is lost longer. That is a huge blow for the Avalanche down the middle. Kadri was having such a good playoff season too. He never shied away from the big moments.

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Rangers Still Up But Lightning Back In it

Over in the East, the Tampa Bay Lightning are back in the series after their 3-2 victory over the New York Rangers in Game 3. It was a must-win victory in Game 3 for the Lightning. A loss and the defending champions were going to be in the same position the Oilers were facing. Down 3-0 and on the brink of elimination. Even with the victory, the Lightning are still down 2-1 to the Rangers in the series. But they have confidence going into Game 4.

The confidence can be attributed to Andrei Vasilevskiy playing much better than he did in the first two games of the series. Not to mention, the stars for the Lightning showed up on home ice. Again Nikita Kucherov has a flair for the dramatic. With about 40 seconds left in period 3 and the Lightning pressing, Kucherov sets up Ondrej Palat for the game-winning goal. Kucherov continues to amaze with these unbelievable passes late. The Lightning never quit and in Game 3 they showed why they are the champs.

However, give credit to the Rangers for making the Lightning adjust in this series. The Rangers have been able to attack the Lightning with their North/South game. In addition, the Rangers have been able to be Vasilevskiy more in this series than the Panthers did in the previous series. In Game 1, the Rangers accomplished that feat. Their young “Kid Line” has been excellent. Not to mention their superstars like Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider, Adam Fox, and Igor Shesterkin have shown up in this series.

We all expected a goalie duel between Vasilevskiy and Shesterkin and we finally got that in Game 3. Both were on point throughout the game. Vasilevskiy kept his team in it early and allowed them to claw back from a 2-0 deficit. While Shesterkin kept the Lightning at bay after the game was tied at 2-2. Unfortunately, the Lightning were able to strike late.

Special teams will be for the rest of this series. The teams combined for four power-play goals in Game 3. New York’s power-play has been deadly and the Lightning had to adjust. They did late killing off a huge four-minute penalty. The Lightning’s power play is starting to cook. Especially with the way Steven Stamkos is shooting the puck. New York has to avoid the penalty box or could suffer the same fate as Florida.

That does it for this edition of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs Notebook. Stay tuned for another one in the coming days.