Written by: Jacob Kilberg
15 June, 2022
The Lightning are back in the cup once again, making that three years in a row. On the other side are the all elite Colorado Avalanche. The main question right now surrounds two injured stars from both sides. Will the Lightning be with Brayden Point for this round, and will the Avalanche look to complete their run without star center Nazem Kadri. As of now Kadri looks to be day to day, and is doubtful for Game 1 tonight. On the other hand, Brayden Point looks to be “healthy,” and he will play. The Avalanche are certainly more talented but not by much, and Kadri is a big loss if he remains injured. The huge difference are the goalies in this series. Vasilevsky is looking to further his resume and is the best goalie in the world right now. On the other end, Darcy Kuemper is nowhere near Vasilevsky. So, the key is for Tampa Bay to play aggressive, grab early leads and hope that Vasilevsky can take them to the promised land for a third year in a row. Colorado will play fast, but this is the first time all postseason they will be facing a top tier goaltender. Tampa will challenge them and make them work much harder than they had to in the first 3 rounds. Key players that will need to step up for Tampa Bay are Victor Hedman, and Anthony Cirelli. Palat has been fantastic and will need to continue his contributions. Kucherov and Stamkos will need to do the same. For Colorado, as we predicted last series Mikko Rantanen stepped up big time. He will need to continue as guys like Gabriel Landeskog and Cale Makar will need to continue their dominance. If they continue this, they will be able to break their 21 year Stanley Cup drought. I say Tampas excellence and experience pushes them to seven games but they come up just short and Colorado raises the cup a Mile High once again.
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