It’s time to take a trip down memory lane, Avs Faithful.
On June 22, 2022, the Avalanche entered Game Four of the Stanley Cup up 2-1 on the Tampa Bay Lightning. At the conclusion of the game, the series would either be tied at two games heading back to Denver, or the Avalanche would be one win away from capturing their first Stanley Cup in 21 years.
How We Arrived Here
The Avalanche started the series strong, taking a 3-1 lead into the first intermission of Game One, but the Lightning scored a pair of goals in the second period to tie the game. After a scoreless third period, we headed to overtime, where Andre Burakovsky scored the game-winning goal for the Avalanche at 1:23 of the period.
Game Two was a completely different story. The Avalanche dominated from start to finish, leading 3-0 after the first period, 5-0 after the second, and 7-0 at the end of regulation. After defending home ice, the Avalanche headed to Tampa Bay, where the Lightning were 7-1 entering the Stanley Cup Final.
Despite the Avalanche scoring first in Game Three, the Lightning wouldn’t go down without a fight, scoring six of the next of the next seven goals and winning 6-2.
One of the main storylines over the first three games of the series was the absence of Nazem Kadri, the team’s third-leading scorer during the regular season (28g/59a), due to injury. Kadri, who had missed the team’s last four games dating back to Game Four of the Western Conference Final, was back for Game Four of the Stanley Cup Final.
And did he ever make a statement in his return.
Game Four's Key Plays
Erik Johnson Blocks Pierre-Edouard Bellemare’s Shot at 7:49 of the First Period
- The Lightning were already up 1-0 after Anthony Cirelli’s goal 36 seconds into the game and had a quality chance to double their lead when Bellemare picked up the puck in the left slot, but Johnson sprawled to block the shot.