Colorado started fast in winning each of the first two games of the series at home, grabbing a 2-0 lead in the opening 9:23 of Game 1 and a 3-0 lead by 13:52 of the first period in Game 2. With the chance to win the Stanley Cup in front of their fans, the Avalanche will try to jump on the Lightning early again, but they will also need to control their emotions and keep their focus regardless of how the start goes.
"Any time -- a playoff game, a regular season game -- you want to start well," Avalanche forward J.T. Compher said. "We've done that at home, but it's going to be 60 minutes. We've talked about it. The hardest one to win is the one to close out a team, especially a team like this. So we know whether the start goes our way or not the first five, 10 minutes, it's going to be a 60-minute effort, maybe even more. We'll be ready to play our way for as long as it takes."
Conversely, the Lightning will need to do a better job of weathering the early Avalanche storm than they did in the first two games.