How Avalanche won Stanley Cup

The Colorado Avalanche won their third Stanley Cup championship with a 2-1 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final on Sunday.

The Avalanche entered the postseason as the No. 1 seed in the Central Division and had the best record in the Western Conference during the regular season (56-19-7). They swept the Nashville Predators in the first round, defeated the St. Louis Blues in six games in the second round and swept the Edmonton Oilers in the conference final.
It was Colorado's first Cup title since 2001, when it defeated the New Jersey Devils in seven games. The Avalanche also won the Cup in 1996 when they swept the Florida Panthers.
Here's a look at the Avalanche's road to the Stanley Cup:
May 3: Game 1, Western Conference First Round, Ball Arena: Avalanche 7, Predators 2
Colorado entered the playoffs as the top team in the Western Conference and showed why early. Nathan MacKinnon scored a power-play goal 2:20 into the game as part of a five-goal first period, including a goal and two assists from Cale Makar and a shorthanded goal from Andrew Cogliano. Gabriel Landeskog scored to make it 6-0 in the second before Matt Duchene got Nashville on the board. MacKinnon scored again in the third period for a 7-1 lead, and Duchene's second closed out the scoring. Darcy Kuemper made 23 saves to win the opener of the best-of-7 series.
May 5: Game 2, Western Conference First Round, Ball Arena:
The Avalanche got on the board again early in Game 2 when MacKinnon scored at 5:25 of the first. Yakov Trenin scored for the Predators late in the first to tie it 1-1, with what would be the last goal in regulation. Makar won it with a wrist shot from just outside the left circle at 8:31 past
Connor Ingram
, who made 49 saves. Kuemper made 25 saves for Colorado, which took a 2-0 lead in the series.

May 7: Game 3, Western Conference First Round, Bridgestone Arena: Avalanche 7, Predators 3
Landeskog's four points (two goals, two assists) and four power-play goals (Artturi Lehkonen, MacKinnon, Landeskog, Nazem Kadri) sparked the Avalanche to an easy win. However, the news was not all good; Kuemper was injured in the first period and replaced by Pavel Francouz, who made 18 saves in relief. The Avalanche took a 3-0 series lead.
May 9: Game 4, Western Conference First Round, Bridgestone Arena: Avalanche 5, Predators 3
The Avalanche were in unfamiliar territory, trailing 3-2 in the third period when Filip Forsberg scored at 3:58. But Devon Toews scored at 8:55 to tie it before Valeri Nichushkin's goal at 12:02 gave Colorado a 4-3 lead. Francouz made 28 saves, including 12 in the third, starting for the injured Kuemper, and MacKinnon's empty-net power-play goal with 56 seconds left secured the first-round sweep. Makar and Andre Burakovsky each had a goal and two assists.
May 17: Game 1, Western Conference Second Round, Ball Arena:
After Ryan O'Reilly gave the Blues a 1-0 lead in the first, Nichushkin and Samuel Girard scored in the second for a 2-1 Avalanche lead. Jordan Kyrou's power-play goal with 3:14 left in regulation tied it before Josh Manson, who was acquired prior to the trade deadline, scored at 8:02 of overtime for the 3-2 win. Jordan Binnington made 51 saves for the Blues.
May 19: Game 2, Western Conference Second Round, Ball Arena: Blues 4, Avalanche 1
St. Louis took a 2-0 lead in the first and Colorado was never able to catch up. David Perron scored twice, including a power-play goal for the Blues and Binnington made 30 saves. Landeskog scored a power-play goal for the Avalanche, who lost for the first time in the playoffs.
May 21: Game 3, Western Conference Second Round, Enterprise Center: Avalanche 5, Blues 2
For the third straight game, the Blues scored first, but the Avalanche responded with the next three on goals from Logan O'Connor, Kadri and Lehkonen for a 3-1 lead. O'Reilly cut it to 3-2 late in the second, but Landeskog and Lehkonen scored in the third to give Colorado a 2-1 series lead.
May 23: Game 4, Western Conference Second Round, Enterprise Center: Avalanche 6, Blues 3
Colorado scored four goals in less than five minutes in the second period for a 4-1 lead and never looked back. St. Louis scored two power-play goals late in the second to make it 4-3, but Kadri completed his hat trick in the third for a 5-3 lead, Mikko Rantanen scored his first of the playoffs with an empty-net goal with two seconds left, and the Avalanche took a 3-1 lead in the series.

May 25: Game 5, Western Conference Second Round, Ball Arena:
MacKinnon scored twice in the first for a 2-0 lead before Landeskog made it 3-0 early in the second. However, St. Louis scored the next three to tie the game. MacKinnon's spectacular goal on an end-to-end rush with 2:56 remaining, which gave him a hat trick, appeared to seal the win, but Robert Thomas scored with 56 seconds left to tie the game 4-4. Tyler Bozak scored at 3:38 of overtime to get the Blues within 3-2 in the series.
May 27: Game 6, Western Conference Second Round, Enterprise Center: Avalanche 3, Blues 2
Colorado trailed 2-1 entering the third period but tied the game with a power-play goal by J.T. Compher. With the game appearing to head to overtime, Darren Helm scored with 5.6 seconds left for a 3-2 lead. The Avalanche, who improved to 5-0 on the road in the playoffs, advanced past the second round after losing there each of the previous three seasons.

May 31: Game 1, Western Conference Final, Ball Arena: Avalanche 8, Oilers 6
Playing in its first conference final since 2002, Colorado got first-period goals from Compher, MacKinnon and Makar to lead 3-2 after 20 minutes. Kadri's power-play goal 32 seconds into the second made it 4-2 and was the first of six goals in the period, including four by the home team. Rantanen, Compher and Cogliano gave the Avalanche a 7-3 lead, but Connor McDavid, Derek Ryan and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins made the blowout into a one-goal game midway through the third period. Landeskog scored into an empty net with 22 seconds left for the 8-6 final and 1-0 series lead. Kuemper was injured in the first period and replaced by Francouz, who made 18 saves and got the win in relief.
June 2: Game 2, Western Conference Final, Ball Arena: Avalanche 4, Oilers 0
After combining for 14 goals in Game 1, neither team scored in the first 20 minutes. However, Colorado got three second-period goals in 2:04 by Lehkonen, Manson and Rantanen for a 3-0 lead. MacKinnon scored a power-play goal in the third for the 4-0 final and Francouz made 24 saves for the shutout and the Avalanche took a 2-0 series lead.
June 4: Game 3, Western Conference Final, Rogers Place: Avalanche 4, Oilers 2
McDavid scored 38 seconds in for a 1-0 Oilers lead before Nichushkin scored twice to make it 2-1. Edmonton tied it in the third on a goal by Ryan McLeod, but Compher scored the tie-breaking goal at 12:42 for a 3-2 lead. Rantanen's empty-net goal with 30 seconds left sealed the win and moved Colorado within one win of the Stanley Cup Final. Francouz made 27 saves for Colorado, which lost Kadri to a hand injury.
June 6: Game 4, Western Conference Final Round, Rogers Place:
Colorado trailed 3-1 after the first period and 4-2 in the third, but got three goals in less than six minutes from Landeskog, MacKinnon and Rantanen for a 5-4 lead. Zack Kassian forced overtime by scoring with 3:22 left in regulation before Lehkonen played hero, scoring at 1:19 of overtime to send Colorado to the Cup Final for the first time since 2001. Makar had a goal and four assists and Francouz made 30 saves.

June 15: Game 1, Stanley Cup Final, Ball Arena:
After eight days without a game, the Avalanche didn't look rusty, getting goals from Landeskog and Nichushkin less than two minutes apart in the first for a 2-0 lead. Nicholas Paul got the Lightning within 2-1 at 12:26, but Lehkonen's power-play goal at 17:31 restored the two-goal lead. Ondrej Palat and Mikhail Sergachev scored 48 seconds apart in the second to tie the game 3-3. Burakovsky scored on a one-timer 1:23 into overtime for the 4-3 final to give Colorado a 1-0 series lead.
June 18: Game 2, Stanley Cup Final, Ball Arena: Avalanche 7, Lightning 0
The Avalanche wasted no time getting things rolling, scoring three goals on 11 shots in the first period (Nichushkin, Manson, Burakovsky). Nichushkin and Helm scored in the second for a 5-0 lead and Makar had a power-play goal and a shorthanded goal in the third for the 7-0 final. Kuemper made 16 saves for his first shutout of the playoffs to give the Avalanche a 2-0 series lead. Andrei Vasilevskiy allowed seven goals on 30 shots, the most he's allowed in his 100 playoff games.
June 20: Game 3, Stanley Cup Final, Amalie Arena: Lightning 6, Avalanche 2
Colorado scored first for the third straight game of the Final with Landeskog's goal at 8:19 of the first period. However, Anthony Cirelli and Palat scored 1:51 apart to give the Lightning a 2-1 lead after the first. Nicholas Paul made it 3-1 before Landeskog's second of the game made it 3-2. Tampa Bay scored the next three goals in a 7:06 span in the second period for a 6-2 lead to get their first win of the series. It was Colorado's first road loss of the playoffs; they had been 7-0.
June 22: Game 4, Stanley Cup Final, Amalie Arena:
The Lightning got off to a fast start with Cirelli giving them a 1-0 lead 36 seconds into the game. MacKinnon tied it with a power-play goal at 5:17 of the second for his first of the Cup Final. Victor Hedman restored the Lightning lead at 10:42 before Cogliano scored early in the third to tie it 2-2 at 2:53. The game went to overtime and Kadri, playing his first game after missing four because of thumb surgery scored at 12:02 to move Colorado within one win of their first championship since 2001.

June 24: Game 5, Stanley Cup Final, Ball Arena: Lightning 3, Avalanche 2
Colorado entered with a chance to win the Cup and their first playoff series at home in these playoffs. The Avalanche came back from down a goal twice, with Nichushkin tying it early in the second and Makar early in the third, but Palat's goal with 6:22 remaining was the difference in a 3-2 Lightning win. Vasilevskiy made 35 saves to help extend the series.
June 26: Game 6, Stanley Cup Final, Amalie Arena: Avalanche 2, Lightning 1
The Avalanche trailed 1-0 after Steven Stamkos scored 3:48 into the game. But MacKinnon scored early in the second before Lehkonen scored midway through the period for a 2-1 lead, which would be the final score. Kuemper made 29 saves in the win and Makar won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, leading Colorado with 29 points (eight goals, 21 assists) in 20 games.