What to know for the best Stanley Cup final matchup in years
Exciting Avalanche stand in the way of a Lightning 3-peat
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This Stanley Cup final matchup pretty much sells itself. A team trying for the first NHL three-peat in 40 years takes on arguably the most exciting squad in hockey. Here's a quick primer for the heavyweight tilt between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Colorado Avalanche, which opens Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET in Denver and can be watched live on the CBC TV network, CBCSports.ca and the CBC Sports app:
This is, by far, Tampa Bay's toughest final opponent yet.
The betting markets believe the more dominant-looking Avs will end the Lightning dynasty (if we can call it that yet). Based on the series odds, Colorado has about a 60 per cent chance of winning its first Cup since 2001, when current GM Joe Sakic led the Avs as a player to their second championship.
There are great players on both sides.
Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon and Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov are two of the very best forwards in the sport, and both are producing like the superstars they are in these playoffs. MacKinnon has scored 11 goals in 14 games, while Kucherov has 23 points in 17 contests. A less-heralded key for the Avalanche could be Mikko Rantanen, who scored 36 times in the regular season but was slumping in the playoffs before busting out for a goal in each of the four games vs. Edmonton.
There's also a marquee matchup on the blue-line between Tampa veteran Victor Hedman, who won the Norris Trophy in 2018 and the Conn Smythe in '20, and Colorado's Cale Makar, the electrifying youngster who seems destined to become the game's next great defenceman (if he isn't already). Makar, 23, is the betting favourite to win the Conn Smythe as playoff MVP after racking up 22 points in 14 games over the first three rounds. But he's about to meet perhaps the world's best goalie in Andrei Vasilevskiy, the 2021 Conn Smythe and 2019 Vezina winner who sports a sparkling .928 save percentage in this year's playoffs and has come up with numerous clutch stops.
Also, we're in the midst of a Stamkosaissance. Oft-injured 32-year-old Lightning captain Steven Stamkos turned back the clock to lead Tampa with 42 goals this season before adding a team-high nine in the playoffs.
Both teams hope to get an injured star back.
Tampa Bay forward Brayden Point missed the previous two rounds with a lower-body injury suffered in Game 7 vs. Toronto. But it "looks like he's a go" for Game 1, coach Jon Cooper said Wednesday.
Colorado's Nazem Kadri is also hoping to return at some point in the series after being sidelined by Evander Kane's hit from behind in Game 3 of the Western Conference final. Despite having surgery for a thumb injury, Kadri is back skating with the team but will not play in Game 1, coach Jared Bednar said Wednesday.
