Stanley Cup Finals: Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Colorado Avalanche ( Avs lead 3-2)

[Pierce Hawthorne]

Blues clowned them in Game 2 and had a lead in G3and were pushing before Kadri decided to injure Binner and then play the victim. Its ok to admit that your team was unable to beat a hot goaltender without injuring him. Good luck vs TB, with all the eyes on this series now it wont be so easy to take runs at him like you did at JB for 3 games.

I personally hope this series goes 7 and the GWG is a shot from the redline so TB can skate around Avs ice with the cup. Then they can party it up in Denver and fly home with another cup for Maroon!

I think its time you take the always right out of your profile big guy.

 

[Muffin]

Blues clowned them in Game 2 and had a lead in G3and were pushing before Kadri decided to injure Binner and then play the victim. Its ok to admit that your team was unable to beat a hot goaltender without injuring him. Good luck vs TB, with all the eyes on this series now it wont be so easy to take runs at him like you did at JB for 3 games.

I personally hope this series goes 7 and the GWG is a shot from the redline so TB can skate around Avs ice with the cup. Then they can party it up in Denver and fly home with another cup for Maroon!

So your team forgot how to hockey in the next 3 games because Binnington got injured? Funny Colorado swept Edmonton with McDavid and Draisaitl with Francouz. Wasn't Husso the better goalie all year and the starter going in the playoffs?

So your plan was hope Binnington makes 50 saves a game and maintain a .950SV% that's clearly not sustainable? BTW they lost game 1. Sounds like Nashville's plan with Ingram.

 

[leafsfan5]

The west has 3 good teams but they are all from the same division. The Pacific bracket should be shot into the sun.

Fair point, the Blues could have pushed 7 and maybe won if Binnington was healthy

Though I will say, I don't think the Blues/Wild are elite like a lot of eastern teams

 

[LightningStorm]

Hoping Vasy makes the difference here with our edge in net. We'll need it, cause of all teams we've faced in these 3 consecutive finals runs, Colorado is definitely the toughest. Should be an epic finals for the ages.

 

[Frank Drebin]

Kuemper is getting underrated here. He was a top 10 goalie in the league this year until his eye injury. If he's truly healthy he's more than good enough.

He's not in pre eye injury form, and hasn't played in like 2 weeks.

 

[TheDizee]

Fair point, the Blues could have pushed 7 and maybe won if Binnington was healthy

Blues would have beat the Avs with Binner, he was spitting out Conn Smythe numbers.

But nobody is beating TB this year unless injuries to their goaltender and blueline occur.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Tampa Bay in 7, this series should be awesome

 

[falconski]

Deep trouble as in leading the series lol? You're lucky your team even got game 6.

Yes but they didn’t have a Calle Rosen equivalent on our team, so they lost in six to a half blind goalie

 

[Muffin]

He's not in pre eye injury form, and hasn't played in like 2 weeks.

We'll see what form he's in, you could see his eye was still swollen in the Edmonton series which looks to be gone.

 

[Hedmonster Bolt]

 

[BTO]

Boston-Chicago in 2013 fits as well I think, that was a great series

No it wasn't it sucked. First round was good tho

 

[WetcoastOrca]

It will be interesting to see how the Avalanche respond to the long lay off. It took Tampa until the third game to shake off the rust against the NYR. Colorado can’t afford that. They will need to come out flying.

 

[quesosauce]

i know vasi is great and very well could be the difference for the bolts in the series, but i love the narrative of "avs are in for a rude awakening in playing vs one of the best goalies" ummm we've played good goalies before, sure maybe not during this playoffs, but we played vs every team this season....we score on everyone.

either way looking forward to a fun series

 

[Muffin]

Yes but they didn’t have a Calle Rosen equivalent on our team

I have to give credits to St Louis fans for hate watching the Avs a month after their season was over. Truly dedications.

 

[EdAVSfan]

I really want Avs to win but Francouz/Kuemper Vs Vasy is no contest.

Avs and Avs fans are probably in for a surprise. They haven't faced any team that has Vasy like goalie

Unless Mack finds an extra gear that he hasnt ever used before to completely take over teh series this series will be well.....

This “Avs fans are gonna be surprised” nonsense seriously makes no sense.

Where’s the surprise? Vasi and Tampa are the best. They’ve won 2 cups. They’re in the final 3 years in a row. What’s gonna surprise us about the team?

I’ve seen this type of post dozens of times. It’s ridiculous.

The Avs are going up against a juggernaut. Everyone knows. The fans know. The players know.

 

[Sentinel]

Colorado has greater depth and has the best defenseman in the league in Makar. But Tampa Bay has the best offensive line in Palat-Stamkos-Kucherov, the second-best defenseman in Hedman, and Vasilevsky is miles above whichever goalie plays for Colorado. Threepeat in six.

 

[TheDizee]

Hoping Vasy makes the difference here with our edge in net. We'll need it, cause of all teams we've faced in these 3 consecutive finals runs, Colorado is definitely the toughest. Should be an epic finals for the ages.

I actually think the Leafs will have been your toughest test this postseason. But all 3 teams you have beaten are leaps better than the 3 Colorado has gone through.

 

[quesosauce]

Palat-Stamkos-Kucherov

i'll take landeskog makinnon rantanen over that anyday of the week

 

[Goulet17]

I actually think the Leafs will have been your toughest test this postseason. But all 3 teams you have beaten are leaps better than the 3 Colorado has gone through.

So you are admitting that St. Louis was not very good? No offense, but you are very confusing at times.

 

[PocketNines]

Both teams are Cup caliber but only one can win. Meaning, if Colorado loses they are still at a level enough to win the Cup in a lot of years. My working hypothesis is and has been that Tampa is an elite champion, so that may not be good enough. Are we about to see the first threepeat since the Islanders? I think it's a serious mistake for bettors to have Tampa as the underdog, that is value.

Tampa defense and goaltending is a tier above Colorado and the Lightning have plenty of offense. Avs team speed is problematic but what makes Tampa so elite is they adjust to their opponent and can win playing several styles. They play as a full team to get the puck out of the zone, make the simple play, just grind grind grind the entire game.

Vasilevskiy is very possibly right smack dab in the greatest goaltending career of all time. We can't know that yet but we are witnessing a peak that is truly historic. He is 27. The Avs have Francouz and Kuemper and are somehow still favored. Hedman is the best defender in the league and has been for awhile.

Tampa gets to that third win and you are done, they are closing you out and you might get a goal in that game. Maybe.

 

[falconski]

So you are admitting that St. Louis was not very good? No offense, but you are very confusing at times.

You’re expecting logic?

 

[Sentinel]

Kuemper is getting underrated here. He was a top 10 goalie in the league this year until his eye injury. If he's truly healthy he's more than good enough.

If

(As the Spartans reply to the Persians)

 

[Eltuna]

Blues would have beat the Avs with Binner, he was spitting out Conn Smythe numbers.

But nobody is beating TB this year unless injuries to their goaltender and blueline occur.

The Blues were outclassed by a pretty significant degree, I’m not sure I would even say they are 1 tier below the Avs, I think it might be two. For most of the series they struggled even getting the puck past the red line let alone sustaining any kind of pressure offensively.

History will remember different based on games played but I actually think the Oilers have been the best team Colorado has played this year despite the sweep. Colorado was lucky to sweep the Oilers and were very unlucky to not beat the Blues in 5.

8-2 against them the last two years in the playoffs, the two teams just aren’t close to one another no matter who is in net.

 

[Grumbler]

Going to be an intense finals, been a while since we had top teams play each other in it.

 

[Seras]

Tampa in 5.

No one in the west has a chance against Tampa