The Backcheck: Lightning win streak ends in Colorado on Tuesday

The Tampa Bay Lightning began Tuesday’s game at Ball Arena against the Colorado Avalanche with a near perfect start, but the visitors saw their five-game win streak end with a 3-2 loss to Colorado.

Tampa Bay scored 97 seconds into the game, but Colorado (8-1-5 this season) scored the game’s next three goals to take the win. The Lightning now hold a 6-5-2 record in 2025-26.

“I thought the first (period) was good. They had chances on the power play, but I thought 5-on-5 we were controlling a lot of the play. And the second, they kind of took over,” Lightning forward Brayden Point said postgame. "We had a stretch there, I don’t know how long it was for those two goals, but that’s tough to come back from. (Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy) played great and the PK did a great job to keep us in the game, and we just came up short in the end.”

Forwards Zemgus Girgensons, Yanni Gourde and Pontus Holmberg pinned Colorado in their own defensive zone early on a shift that ended with Nikita Kucherov taking the ice, forcing a turnover behind the Avalanche net and snagging a 1-0 lead for the visitors just 97 seconds into the game.

Kucherov stopped a Cale Makar clearing attempt behind the net and then wrapped the puck around the net to beat Colorado goalie Scott Wedgewood to the right post.

A pair of Lightning penalties less than three minutes apart saw Colorado even the score. Despite Tampa Bay killing the first Avalanche power play 10:47 into the period, a too many men on the ice penalty against the visitors ended with the 1-1 tally.

Forward Victor Olofsson potted the rebound following Nathan MacKinnon’s initial shot on the power play with 6:09 left in the first period.

Olofsson’s second goal of the game gave the Avalanche their first lead 4:08 into the second period, this time firing home a shot after teammate Jack Drury’s initial shot attempt rolled off his tape.

Former Bolt Ross Colton extended the Avalanche lead to 3-1 when he snuck behind the Lightning defense for a backhand breakaway goal 1:13 later.

“Maybe a lack of focusing a little bit,” defenseman Charle-Edouard D’Astous said of the rapid goals against. “It was two (where) we let our guy go and they scored, but yeah, we’ve got to play 60 minutes.”

The Lightning opened the third period with a push of their own, this sparked by a highlight goal from Point.

Point’s third marker of the year saw him fly through the neutral zone and attack the Colorado end with speed, slipping the puck to his backhand before ripping a shot off the crossbar and down into the Avalanche net 3:32 into the third period.

Tampa Bay pushed with the hopes of tying the game, but the Avalanche held on for the win. Vasilevskiy finished with 30 saves, while D’Astous and Victor Hedman assisted on Point’s goal.

Tampa Bay closes its three-game road trip with a Thursday visit to the Vegas Golden Knights (7-2-3) at T-Mobile Arena.

Benjamin’s Three Stars:

1. Victor Olofsson, COL (2 goals)
2. Scott Wedgewood, COL (22 saves)
3. Brayden Point, TBL (Goal)