Avalanche Fail to Close Out Lightning with 3-2 Loss in Game 5

Back to Tampa.
The Colorado Avalanche failed to close out the Tampa Bay Lightning and suffered a 3-2 loss in Game 5 of the 2022 Stanley Cup Final on Friday night at Ball Arena. Colorado still leads the best-of-seven series 3-2.

Cale Makar (1G, 1A) and Valeri Nichushkin (1G, 1A) scored for the Avalanche. Darcy Kuemper made 26 saves on 29 shots.
For Tampa Bay, Ondrej Palat scored the game winner, while Jan Rutta and Nikita Kucherov (power play) also scored. Corey Perry handed out two assists. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 35 saves on 37 shots.

GAME SUMMARY:

Coming into the series, the Avalanche knew they'd have their work cut out for them against the two-time defending champions. And with two of the four previous games in the Final having required overtime, it was no surprise that it was a difficult challenge to close out the Lightning in Game 5 on Friday.
Colorado had tied up the score 2-2 early in the third period and both teams were dialed in as the Avalanche looked to pull ahead in what would have clinched the Stanley Cup for them, while the Bolts were inspired to keep their season alive.
At 13:38, the Bolts restored their lead with the game-winner and the goal to force a Game 6 back in Tampa. Their top line executed a slick passing sequence and their two defenseman joined in. After grabbing a slot from Mikhail Sergachev and positioned in the right faceoff circle, Victor Hedman threaded a pass into the slot for Palat, where the Tampa winger zipped his low shot shortside and past Kuemper to give the Bolts a 3-2 lead.
From the get-go the game featured a tight-checking back-and-forth flow from both sides. The Bolts eventually recorded the game's icebreaker at 15:21.
The Avalanche - who led the frame with a 13-11 shot advantage - had killed off consecutive penalties early on as J.T. Compher went to the box for hi-sticking at 3:13 and Nazem Kadri was assessed for hooking at 6:58. Colorado received a power play of their own at 11:17, but failed to convert.
Shortly after, Tampa Bay found the back of the net with a chance in transition. Corey Perry zipped a cross-ice pass to Rutta, who jetted into the Avalanche's zone. The Bolts defenseman unleashed a 95 mile-per-hour clapper that hit off Kuemper and under his elbow to give Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead.
Colorado nearly equalized the score with one minute left in the game as Devon Toews sprung Nathan MacKinnon on a breakaway. MacKinnon beat Vasilveskiy five hole, but his shot missed the net wide.
Early in the second period, the Avalanche tied the game up 1-1, but would relinquish a power play goal to trail the middle frame 2-1 heading into the second intermission.

Nichushkin put Colorado on the board at 5:07 in the second period after an icing was called on Tampa Bay. After gaining possession, Cale Makar fired a high shot on net. Vasilevskiy swatted the high shot down, but Nichushkin swooped in on the backdoor and tapped in the loose puck.
The Bolts regained the lead at 8:10 on a 4-on-3 power play. At 6:27, J.T. Compher and Alex Killorn were sent to the box - Compher for holding the stick and Killorn for holding. On the 4-on-4, Makar was penalized for tripping at 6:58. During the 1:29 of power play for the Lightning, they converted with just their second power play goal of the series.
Following a few shots on net and subsequent zone cycles, Kucherov sniped an 85 mile an hour shot from between the faceoff circles, off the far post and into the net at 8:10 to give Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead.

The Avalanche stormed out in the third period - down by a goal - to, "We want the Cup!" chants from the sold out crowd at Ball Arena and at 2:31 in the final frame, they tied the score up 2-2. Makar fired a shot from distance. The puck took a bounce and with net front traffic between a jousting Nichushkin and Bolts defenseman Erik Cernak, the shot deflected off Cernak's skate and past Vasilveskiy for the equalizer.
After tying the score up, both teams played end-to-end, disciplined play and exchanged solid looks on net, but the Bolts pulled ahead eventually with Palat's strike.

NOTEWORTHY:

• Nichushkin scored his ninth goal of the postseason.
• Makar tallied his eighth goal of the playoffs. With a goal and an assist, Makar leads the Avalanche in scoring with 29 points (8G, 21A) through 19 postseason games.
• Colorado finished the game 0-for-2 on the power play and is 1-for-4 on the penalty kill.
• Nicolas Aube-Kubel, Andre Burakovsky, Ryan Murray, Kurtis MacDermid, Justus Annunen, and Samuel Girard (upper body) were scratches for Colorado.

NEXT GAME:

The 2022 Stanley Cup Final between Colorado and the Lightning returns to Tampa with Game 6 scheduled on Sunday night at Amalie Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 6 p.m. MT.