TAMPA, FLORIDA – JUNE 22: Nazem Shots № 91 from Colorado Avelanch celebrates its winning goal in overtime to beat Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 in the fourth match of the 2022 Stanley Cup Finals in Amalia Arena on June 22 2022 Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Eliot J. Schechter / NHLI via Getty Images)
Colorado Avelanche are on the verge of reaching their huge potential after a book of stories, albeit controversial, ending in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup final.
After missing the first three games of the series in the recovery from a surgically repaired thumb, Nazem Kadri scored in the extra time in a partial break to lead Avalanche to a 3-2 victory over Tampa Bay Lightning, moving Colorado in one win after lifting the Stanley Cup. .
The magnificent and unlikely winner of Kadri ruined the brilliant performance of Andrei Vassilevski of Tampa Bay, who had so far thwarted Avalanche’s inspired effort with 35 saves in the game, including 10 in overtime.
This was the only clear goal scored by Vasilevski on a night when Avalanche had to find other means. The avalanche tied twice before Kadri gave his team its first and only lead, with Nathan McKinnon scoring his first goal of the series in a lucky diversion and Nico Sturm also using a lucky rebound to register his first of the playoffs.
Vassilevski’s colleague, Darcy Kumper, was also busy, making 37 saves. His only spots came with goals from Anthony Sirelli and Victor Hedman.
Kumper also contributed to the attack by moving the puck up the ice to win a second assist for the Kadri winner.
Which leads us to a controversy we didn’t know about until John Cooper met briefly and emotionally with reporters before proposing a strange cliffhang.
The head coach of Lightning promised in his session with the media that we will see proof that the Bolts should have “still played” after the winner of Kadri is considered under a more critical lens.
And while it’s not immediately clear, it will be pointed out that after Quemper pushed the puck back up and it found Kadri’s wand, an Avalanche player, McKinnon, did not complete his shift.
According to the letter of the law, Cooper – the former lawyer – has a valid point with six Avalanche skaters on the ice holding the puck. And for that reason, Lightning fans will be saddened by something they wouldn’t have noticed without Cooper’s theatricality, while Avalanche fans and most others will argue that MacKinnon’s failure to jump the boards really didn’t matter to the game.
The story continues
On closer inspection, Lightning also seemed to have extras on the ice, as both teams worked to complete the changes.
It’s worth taking Cooper’s entire post-match post, which included a long and dramatic preface before making his point.
What Cooper’s remarks shouldn’t be distracting from is the evening’s most important headline, which is that Kadri is hitting the top of his personal redemptive arc.
The hockey people were heartbroken for Kadri when the talented striker, who finally managed to control his emotions on the post-season stage after several consecutive seasons of disappointment for his teams with dirty and punishable games, was injured in a reckless bump by Evander Kane in the final of the Western Conference.
There was no promise that Kadri would be able to play in the NHL championship series, let alone contribute at a high level. And after a bit of a slow start to the game and some procrastination on his part, while taking care of the probably cumbersome defense of his thumb, it seems that Kadri may have failed to provide a boost.
Of course, Kadri joined the game before making a brilliant move by Mikhail Sergachev to create the goal opportunity used to put the puck under Vasilevski’s arm and on the roof of the net.
With the return of Kadri and the story of Tampa’s return with Brayden Point, which failed to bear fruit, Avalanche are obviously the fresher and more complete team.
And now they have three chances to win the first Stanley Cup in 21 years in the franchise, the first coming on Friday night in Denver.
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