After two lost matches in Denver, all the leaders “Tampas” have been the subject of serious criticism – in particular Nikita Kucherov. Except for an assist on Ondrej Palat in Game 1, the Russian didn’t score any successful playing action at the start of the Stanley Cup Final – in Game 2 he didn’t make any attempts to throw.
For the first home game of the series against “Colorado” Tampa and Kucherov himself managed to regroup and stage a worthy response to the humiliating 0:7. In Denver, the Lightning struggled to get out of the pressure of the Avalanche, this time it was the Lightning itself that crashed – not so bright and powerful, but no less effective. Led by the stellar Palat-Stamkos-Kucherov trio (Point was once again out of the lineup due to the effects of an old injury), Tampa’s offense could only benefit from Colorado’s mistakes.
Kucherov became the main engine of the attack, taking an active part in three of the six goals thrown by the “lightning”. It all started with a rather discreet, but very important action by the Russian at the end of the first period with the score 1:1, when he ran into a counterattack with Ondrej Palat and drew the full attention of the defender Cale Makar, taking him to the baseline and freeing up space for the Czech and Steven Stamkos who joined him.
In the second period, when the score became 3:2 in favor of Tampa, Kucherov started his favorite part – the distribution of assists:
After today’s game, the Russian scored 26 points in this playoff series, and he became the fourth player in NHL history to win at least 25 points in the third consecutive Stanley Cup (Wayne Gretzky 1983-85, Mike Bossy 1981-93, Brian Trottier 1980-82).
After 40 minutes, Tampa led 6-2, and in the third period, the Lightning methodically maintained their advantage. Andrey Vasilevsky also helped them, after two failures in Denver he came back to his level and returned 37 shots in today’s game. His saves after two Comper shots were particularly memorable.
The end of the game was clouded by a nasty blow to the back of Kucherov, committed by Colorado defender Davon Taves. The Avalanche player was punished with a two-minute penalty for this, and the Russian himself, limping and angry, entered the hall under the bleachers.
At a press conference after the game, Tampa head coach John Cooper did not report any news on the forward’s health, referring only to his attitude towards Toews’ actions: “C It’s a contact game, but the guys know what they’re doing – there are smart, quick-witted players.”
Whether or not the Colorado defender tried to purposely take Kucherov out of the series is anyone’s guess. Perhaps detailed information about the striker’s condition will appear tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow the team is already waiting for the fourth game.
NHL. Playoffs
Tampa Bay Lightning (Tampa) – Colorado Avalanche (Denver) – 6:2 (2:1, 4:1, 0:0)
Goals: Cirelli, 1:03 p.m. Chambers, 2:54 p.m. Paul, 21:26. Stamkos, 27:52. Brown 31:15. Perry, 34:58 (bol.). -Landeskog, 8:19 (bol.), 24:43 (bol.)
Source : MatchTV
I am Sandra Jackson, a journalist and content creator with extensive experience in the news industry. I have been working in the news media for over five years. During this time, I have worked as an author and editor at various outlets producing high-quality content that attracts readers from different demographics.
