Clash of titans: NHL’s best square off in star-studded Stanley Cup final
The last two NHL playoffs have surprised us with underdog runs culminating in a shocking appearance for a small team on the big stage of the Stanley Cup finals.
In 2020, the Dallas Stars pulled off two straight upsets to make a miracle run to the dance as the 10th-placed team in the league. In 2021, the Cinderella story was even more miraculous. The Montreal Canadiens were the lowest seed in the entire 16-team field, yet made it all the way to the brink of a Stanley Cup.
However, both times the clock struck midnight on these underdogs in the Stanley Cup finals at the hands of a juggernaut — the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Bolts did so swiftly, dispatching Dallas in six games and sending Montreal home in an even quicker five. The longshot campaigns came to anticlimactic ends in the finals against what is quickly becoming a modern-day NHL dynasty.
And in 2022, the back-to-back champions have returned for more, looking to become the first team to win three straight Stanley Cups since the 1980s New York Islanders.
“You always dream about having your name on a Stanley Cup,” said Lightning head coach Jon Cooper. “To get there the first time was a dream come true. To get there a second time, the next year, it was a dream. To go a third time is unthinkable.”
But this year the script has flipped — the Lightning are not an overwhelming favorite against an upstart squad just happy to be there. In fact, they’re the underdogs.
Standing in the way of a third consecutive Stanley Cup is the Colorado Avalanche, a team that has looked historically dominant through the first three rounds of the playoffs.
After an uncharacteristically slower regular season, though perhaps understandably so after back-to-back cups, the Lightning have been the lower seed in each of the first three rounds and have been tested accordingly.
They were pushed to the very brink by the Toronto Maple Leafs in a first round series that went the distance to a win-or-go-home game seven and fell into a 0-2 deficit against the New York Rangers to start the Eastern Conference finals.
For the most part, Tampa Bay has looked like its commanding old self, like when it responded to falling behind against New York by rattling off four straight wins or when it bounced in-state rival and Presidents’ Trophy champion Florida Panthers in a second-round sweep.
Yet there have been moments of adversity. Colorado, meanwhile, has made its run through the Western Conference look like a cakewalk. The Avalanche have lost just two games this entire playoffs. What’s more, the team recorded series sweeps against both the Nashville Predators in the first round and the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference final, completely neutralizing the best player in the world in Connor McDavid.
“They have just an unbelievable mix of veteran presence, star power, grinders and goaltending,” said Lightning captain Steven Stamkos. “So, a huge challenge for us.”
Now, the heavyweights finally come toe-to-toe in what could be a Stanley Cup for the ages.
The Avalanche have been a dominant regular season team for several years, but never have been able to put it together in the postseason, suffering three straight second-round exits before this year.
The powerful regular season came once again, as Colorado finished first in the Western Conference this year and beat Tampa Bay in both of the teams’ regular season matchups.
But they’ll be hoping to write a storybook ending that will be different and have an opportunity to exorcize past playoff demons once and for all. The team then has added motivation but also much less playoff experience than the battle-tested Lightning.
Tampa Bay, though, has played a lot of hockey over the past three seasons. The motivation levels for a third cup may be different than for players searching for that all-elusive first one, and it would not be surprising if all the high-stakes hockey they’ve played catches up to them in the finals. Already their lengthy past playoff series have given them injury troubles — star forward Brayden Point has not played since the first round, though is probable for the series.
But the Lightning know how to win and return the same core and the same stars that have helped them do so these past two years. It starts in net with Andrei Vasilevskiy, a Conn Smythe and Vezina Trophy winner who has established himself as the best goaltender in hockey.
On defense, the Bolts are anchored by Victor Hedman, a Norris Trophy winner and Conn Smythe winner himself. Tampa Bay has incredible strength up front too, with high-scoring talents in Nikita Kucherov, Stamkos and Point leading the way. The team also has strong depth and is incredibly well-coached with Cooper at the helm.
They’re truly the complete package and would cement themselves as one of the best teams in NHL history, if they haven’t already, with a third straight Stanley Cup.
On the other side, Colorado is weaker in net, but it has no shortage of star power either. There’s a reason the Avalanche cruised through the Western Conference and have been such a dominant regular season force. And they may be the team of destiny that can finally end the Lightning’s stranglehold on the rest of the league.
Two game-breakers in particular could shift the series for the Avs. Nathan MacKinnon leads Colorado on offense with incredible speed and strength, often taking over games single handedly.
On the back end, 23-year-old Cale Makar is a transcendent talent himself, leading the Avalanche with 22 points this postseason and, in addition to being strong defensively, is gifted with an incredible ability to create scoring.
This is a series that could — and should — go the full seven games. The Lightning have the experience, but there seems to be something special with Colorado this year. I have the Avalanche bringing a Stanley Cup back to Colorado on the back of a Conn Smythe winning performance by Makar.
However, a three-peat from the Lightning’s modern-day dynasty could very well be in the cards. Either way, this heavyweight battle between two of the NHL’s best should be an incredible treat for hockey fans.
Benjamin Coleman is a deputy sports editor. Contact him at bcoleman@dailycal.org.