Avalanche to play Lightning in Stanley Cup Final
Colorado swept Oilers in West; Tampa Bay defeated Rangers in East
Colorado will host Game 1 of the best-of-7 series at Ball Arena on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN+, ABC, CBC, SN, TVAS).
The Avalanche eliminated the Edmonton Oilers in a four-game sweep of the Western Conference Final with a 6-5 overtime win in Game 4. They also swept the Nashville Predators in the first round and advanced to the conference final with a six-game victory against the St. Louis Blues.
"Colorado, probably the best team in the League," Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos said. "As you progress through the playoffs, each round gets tougher, each opponent gets tougher. There's a reason why there's two teams left and that's because they're the two best teams in the League. We're going to have our hands full for sure, but … we know our group, we know our mindset, we know our abilities and we know how we have to play.
"There's no secret that they have some electric players and, to be honest, they're] probably a team we thought we would've played the last couple years. … They have just an unbelievable mix of veteran presence, star power, grinders, goalie. So a huge challenge for us, but we'll put a game plan here together in the next couple days and, just as we do every series, try to execute it as best we can and give ourselves a chance."
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Cale Makar had a goal and four assists in Game 4 against Edmonton and leads the Avalanche with 22 points (five goals, 17 assists) in 14 Stanley Cup Playoff games, and Nathan MacKinnon leads them with 11 goals. Mikko Rantanen (five goals, 12 assists) and Gabriel Landeskog (eight goals, nine assists) each has 17 points.
Nazem Kadri (six goals, eight assists) has 14 points but was unavailable for Game 4 after having surgery for a hand injury. He was injured when he was hit into the boards by Oilers forward Evander Kane in the first period of Game 3. Kane was suspended for Game 4 by the NHL Department of Player Safety.
Goalie Darcy Kuemper is 6-2 with a 2.65 goals-against average and .897 save percentage in 10 playoff games but hasn't played since leaving Game 1 against the Oilers at 12:41 of the second period with an upper-body injury. Pavel Francouz is 6-0 with a 2.86 GAA, .906 save percentage and one shutout in six games (four starts).
The Lightning, who are seeking their third straight Stanley Cup championship, eliminated the New York Rangers with a 2-1 win in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final on Saturday. They defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs in seven games in the first round and swept the Florida Panthers in the second round.
"They're just a team that knows how to win at this point," Avalanche defenseman Devon Toews said. "They've done it the last two years, and they're on the verge of doing it again. Any of those teams, they've been through countless times of adversity and different situations that they've had to face, and each time, they kind of come out of it. So that's something we're going to have to key in on."
The Avalanche were 2-0-0 against the Lightning in the regular season. Landeskog (two goals, one assist) and MacKinnon (one goal, two assists) had three points each. Kuemper had a 2.40 GAA and .929 save percentage.
Brayden Point, a forward who hasn't played since Game 7 of the first round because of a lower-body injury, led the Lightning against the Avalanche with two goals and three points. Andrei Vasilevskiy had a 2.96 GAA and .919 save percentage.
Colorado has won the Stanley Cup twice, defeating the Panthers in 1996 and the New Jersey Devils in 2001.
"The only focus [is] four more [wins]," MacKinnon said. "... We'll get some rest and we'll keep our intensity really high in practice and be ready to go."
NHL.com columnist Nicholas J. Cotsonika and staff writer Tom Gulitti contributed to this report
