Colorado is the champion! Club Nichushkin dethroned the Russians from “Tampa”

Andrey SenchenkoSport correspondentAll materialsEmail to the authorColorado Avalanche wins the 2022 Stanley Cup! Effort and skill, “Tampa Bay Lightning” was not enough to make a heroic comeback and become a team-dynasty. Meeting “Colorado” with “Tampa” in the Stanley Cup finals have been waiting for the last few years. Now it is somewhat sad that the long-awaited battle for the title of the best club in the NHL has already ended. The Avalanche took only six games to deprive the magnificent Lightnings of their deadly charge and striking power. In total — because only two wins in the series for a team that has not lost in the playoffs since April 2019 looks, albeit sadly, but sensationally. The magnificent Nikita Kucherov, who scored 25 or more points in the course of the draw for the third consecutive season, Viktor Hedman, who has practically no weaknesses, the Czech Lightning magic wand Ondrej Palat, the best goalkeeper in the world Andrey Vasilevsky, who set the other goalkeepers of the planet an extremely high bar of skill and even captain Steven Stamkos with the ageless Cory Perry — none of them managed to convince Colorado of their intentions to win the Stanley Cup. back, Braden Point's injury, non-obvious decisions of the judges and a banal failure, but such conversations will inevitably go into the category of the subjunctive «What if …» The truth is that Colorado not only disarmed absolutely the entire Lightning arsenal, but also imposed such game that even the super-experienced team led by the genius John Cooper did not find the code to crack Jared Bednar's system. Although the comeback of the Lightnings, even with a score of 1-3 in the series, did not seem to be something supernatural (and despite the fact that only Toronto managed to win back in such a situation and win the Stanley Cup back in 1942). National Hockey League (NHL)June 27, 2022 • Starts at 03:00EndTampa BayUSA1 : 2Colorado The Lightning were led to believe in him after winning Game 5 of the series. When the “Tampa” opened the scoring in the sixth meeting, held at his native “Amali Arena”, then there was almost no doubt about the heroic salvation of the champions of the last two seasons. Cooper's team kept the starting onslaught, “Colorado” and surpassed a powerful opponent in activity. The puck by Stephen Stamkos is a great proof of this: Nikita Kucherov put the squeeze on Nathan McKinnon and Cale Makar at the gates of Darcy Kemper and allowed Ondrej Palat to assist the Tampa captain.With a noticeable game advantage of Tampa, the probability of holding the seventh match turned out to be extremely high, but the Colorado players rewrote this scenario in just one period. status quo. Nathan McKinnon found space in the left circle and, after Bowen Byram's pass, loaded the one-timer, hitting the near corner of the net. Andrei Vasilevsky only slightly touched the puck with a pancake and could not help his team out. Remarkably, a moment before the scoring attack, the Russian goalkeeper was forced to change the damaged game helmet for a spare one. Immediately after the goal, the goalkeeper demanded that his main helmet be returned to him. mozallowfullscreen» allowfullscreen=»allowFullScreen» frameborder=»0″>Did Vasilevsky see this as superstition, but, having returned the helmet, Andrey made a number of amazing saves. For example, the Russian did not allow Valery Nichushkin to score, who sent the puck into the corner of the goal from a nickel. However, in one of the following attacks, «Avelanche» hosts «Amali Arena» did not save even Vasilevsky. «Colorado» in their own style deployed a counterattacking fan with the participation of John Manson, Nathan McKinnon and Artturi Lehkonen. The latter completed the attack with an accurate shot from the left circle. This goal was decisive both in the match and in the series. But at the same time, scandalous. The Avalanche 3-on-2 wouldn't have happened if Manson hadn't fouled Pierre-Edouard Bellmare. Player “Colorado” frankly hooked stick not owning the opponent's puck and thereby dropped him on the ice, thereby getting rid of guardianship and got enough free space for counterattack. Having missed, the «lightning» literally erupted with ardent discontent at the actions of the referees, who did not see the obvious foul, but could not influence anything.The Lightning players did not affect the course of the game in the third period either. “Avalanches” acted confidently and more often kept the puck in someone else's zone, while “Tampa” for more than ten minutes could not even throw on target Kemper. Disturb the goalkeeper, “Colorado” the owners of the site were able only at the end of the meeting, but with the throw of the same Nikita Kucherov, the Canadian goalkeeper coped without problems. And with that, Colorado shattered Tampa's dreams of becoming a dynasty team. The Lightning lost their first series since April 2019. Colorado won its first Stanley Cup since 2001.