Avalanche Storm Past Lightning With 7-0 Shutout in Game 2

Two down, two to go.
The Colorado Avalanche shut out the Tampa Bay Lightning 7-0 in Game 2 of the 2022 Stanley Cup Final on Wednesday night at Ball Arena. Colorado leads the best-of-seven series 2-0.

Valeri Nichsuhkin and Cale Makar paced the Avalanche as they each scored twice. Nichushkin scored once at even strength and once on the power play, while Makar tallied a shorthanded goal and power-play strike.
Josh Manson, Andre Burakovksy (1G, 1A), and Darren Helm also scored for the Avalanche. Mikko Rantanen dished out three assists, while Alex Newhook recorded two helpers.
Darcy Kuemper made 17 saves in the shutout victory and his first shutout of the postseason. Andrew Cogliano returned to the lineup for the first time since Game 4 of the Western Conference Final after undergoing surgery for an upper-body injury and recorded an assist in his return.
For Tampa Bay, Andrei Vasilevskiy made 23 saves on 30 shots in the loss.

REGULATION SUMMARY:

The Avalanche scored three goals in the opening period for the second time in this series as they raced out to a 3-0 lead heading into the first intermission with an early power-play goal from Nichushkin, a strike off the rush from Manson and one from Burakovsky.
Colorado was awarded a power play 1:01 into the game as Tampa defenseman Ryan McDonagh took a roughing penalty on J.T. Compher. The Bolts penalty kill nearly came out of the two minutes unscathed, but the Avs scored the game's icebreaker on a slick passing sequence as their power play nearly expired.

From below the hash marks, Newhook zipped a pass to the right faceoff circle for Burakovsky. The Swedish winger found Nichushkin in the slot to split three of Tampa Bay's skaters where Nichushkin beat his fellow Russian countryman Vasilevskiy at 2:54.
The Avalanche continued to amplify the pressure and their high-flying pace paid off as they scored on an odd-man rush at 7:55. With Manson and Cogliano charging up ice, Manson opted to shoot the puck himself over passing to Cogliano and his wrist shot sailed to the far side of Vasilveskiy's blocker to double Colorado's lead 2-0. Newhook posted his second assist on the play.
Colorado poured on more chances and extended their lead 3-0 at 13:52. Off a clean zone entry, Mikko Rantanen collected a pass from Burakovsky and put a shot on net from the right faceoff circle. Vasilevskiy made a right pad save, but the rebound kicked out into the slot where Burakovksy tapped the puck past the out-of-position Lightning netminder.

Burakovksy nearly buried his second goal of the game as he took on Vasilevskiy on a breakaway with less than a minute left in the game, but his low wrist shot was kicked out by the Tampa goalie.
The Avs cushioned their lead up to 5-0 heading into the final 20 minutes of play as Nichushkin scored his second goal of the game and Helm also found the back of the net.
Just 4:51 into the frame, Colorado executed a solid forechecking effort behind Tampa Bay's goal to chip the puck loose. From below the goal line, Rantanen grabbed the loose puck along the boards and dished it back into the slot to Nichushkin. The Russian winger wired his shot past Vasilevskiy's glove to extend the Avalanche's lead to 4-0.
Late in the frame, Colorado kept the momentum going and forced another counter attack over the Lightning. Logan O'Connor sprung Helm up ice, who turned on the jets and skated into the left faceoff circle. Despite pressure from Tampa Bay's Anthony Cirelli and Victor Hedman, Helm picked his spot and beat Vasilevskiy over his glove to further Colorado's lead 5-0 at 16:26.

Colorado extended its lead to 7-0 in the third period with two special teams strikes from Makar, one shorthanded and one on the power play - an impressive feat also considering the defenseman was held without a shot in Game 1.
Early in the final frame, the Lightning were awarded their third power play of the night at 1:04 as Rantanen went to the box for tripping on Steven Stamkos. The Bolts had a shot ring off the crossbar, but shortly after the Avs countered and scored shorthanded. As Makar and Cogliano jetted up ice on a two-on-one, Makar took his space, skated into the inside of the right faceoff circle and wired his shot to the far side past Vasilevskiy for the shorthanded strike to give Colorado a 6-0 lead at 2:04.
Makar was cross checked by Ondrej Palat at 8:19. On the Avalanche power play, a passing sequence with Nathan MacKinnon and Rantanen concluded with Rantanen feed Makar across the slot and the defenseman burying his second goal of the night on a quick shot at 9:49 to bolster Colorado's lead up to 7-0.

IN NET:
Kuemper made 17 saves on as many shots. The Avalanche netminder only faced single digit shots in all three periods. He came up with five shots in the first period and seven shots in the second period as he came up with saves on all of them. The Avalanche netminder continued to lock it down in the third period, where Kuemper came up with four saves in the frame and denied a third-period power play chance.
NOTEWORTHY:
NEXT GAME:
The 2022 Stanley Cup Final shifts to Tampa between Colorado and the Lightning with Game 3 scheduled on Monday night at Amalie Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 6 p.m. MT.