In Game 3 of Stanley Cup Final, Lightning must fight back vs. Avalanche — as Canes did
.JPG "Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Antti Raanta (32) blocks the shot of Colorado Avalanche’s Gabriel Landeskog (92) with Hurricanes’ Brett Pesce (22) defending during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, March 10, 2022. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)")
With the Colorado Avalanche scoring goals at an alarming rate Saturday and the Tampa Bay Lightning bewildered, there came a thought:
The Carolina Hurricanes shut out the Avs this season, the only team to do it.
Colorado came into PNC Arena on March 10, Canes goalie Antti Raanta had 36 saves and that was that as Carolina won 2-0.
Unfortunately for the Canes, they gave up seven goals in the game a month later in Denver. More importantly, they lost their starting goalie as Frederik Andersen suffered an MCL tear in the 7-4 loss that kept him out the remainder of the regular season and the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The Avs’ 7-0 dismantling of the Lightning on Saturday in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup final came against a proud, experienced team that has won the Cup each of the past two years. The Avs’ turn-and-burn transition game and overall speed befuddled the Lightning as the Avs took a 2-0 lead in the series after two wins in Denver.
It was the 13th time this season, including the playoffs, the Avs have scored seven or more goals. They’re that fast, that lethal.
Looking back at the game against Carolina at PNC Arena, many were expecting a track-meet type matchup between two of the best teams in the league — Colorado then first in points percentage and the Canes second.
“It’s a team that’s just loaded,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said before the game. “They’ve got all the firepower in the world. When you play a team like this, there is no margin for error.”
But the Canes throttled the Avs, ending a 13-game point and assists streak by Cale Makar, the Avs’ wunderkind defenseman, and a 12-game point streak by Nathan MacKinnon. The game evolved into a showcase for the two goalies: Raanta and Darcy Kuemper.
The game was scoreless more than 14 minutes into the third period when an unlikely star emerged for the Canes: defenseman Ethan Bear. His shot from the right point — the Canes’ 35th of the game — hit the Avs’ Nazem Kadri in the slot and got past Kuemper. Sebastian Aho’s empty-net goal finished it off.
“I thought it was a well-played hockey game by both teams, highly competitive, lots of pace (and) not a lot of room to move,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said after the game.
Raanta was making a third straight start with Andersen out with an injury. The shutout was the 15th of his career and second of the season, and the game a harbinger of things to come.
“It’s just getting that rhythm, getting the confidence and just playing the game,” Raanta said after the game.
The Canes outshot the Avs 37-36 — Colorado’s Gabriel Landeskog had seven shots and MacKinnon six — and blocked 14 shots, five by Jaccob Slavin.
The Canes’ game in Denver on April 16 was just the opposite, the Avs getting their shots and finding the net often, and Andersen then being helped off the ice.
Andersen left the game late in the third period and his injury would remain something of a mystery — the Canes only calling it a “lower-body” concern — until his exit interview with the media, when Andersen revealed the MCL tear.
The Avs, who clinched the Central Division that night with their ninth straight win, streaked to a 4-0 lead early in the second period. Jordan Staal scored twice and Aho and Andrei Svechnikov had goals for the Canes, who pulled within 5-3 in the second period and 6-4 in the third.
“Let’s be honest, they’ve got good players,” Brind’Amour said after the game. “I don’t know that it was a total gong show for us. We gave up too much early, then we fought back.”
Fighting back is the only option the Lightning have left.
This story was originally published June 20, 2022 at 10:21 AM.
