The Avalanche and the rest of the hockey world on Saturday night learned its opponent in the Stanley Cup Finals.
The Tampa Bay Lightning is headed back the to the championship round after the two-time defending champions downed the New York Rangers 2-1 in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals at Amalie Arena.
Tampa Bay won four straight games against the Rangers after losing the first two, and now it gets to go for a three-peat against the Avalanche.
Game 1 of the Cup Finals is Wednesday at Ball Arena; the full schedule is below.
The Avs will have eight days off between games since sweeping the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference Finals on June 6. Colorado had seven days off after sweeping Nashville in the first round and beginning its second-round series against St. Louis. The Avs played extremely well in Game 1 but struggled in Game 2.
“I always liked the rest but the stats are showing that rest isn’t good,” said NHL Network analyst Dave Reid, who won the Cup with Colorado in 2001.
Tampa Bay had eight days off between sweeping the Florida Panthers in the second round and beginning the Eastern Conference Finals against the Rangers. The Lightning struggled in Game 1, losing 6-2, and also lost Game 2, 3-2, before winning four straight against the Rangers.
The Avs and goalie Darcy Kuemper are 2-0 against the Lightning, winning the first meeting in a 4-3 shootout on Oct. 23 in Tampa. Cale Makar scored the winning goal on goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy in the sixth round of the shootout.
Colorado also defeated Tampa Bay in another close game (3-2) on Feb. 10 in Denver. Vasilevskiy took the loss, despite his stellar .939 save percentage (44 saves). Kuemper was even better (.947, 36 saves).
Kuemper is expected to start Game 1 against the Lightning, despite watching backup Pavel Francouz close out two of the first three series because of Kuemper’s injuries. Kuemper has started Game 1 in each series and Francouz understands his role as a $2 million backup.
“I feel like we really pull the rope in the right direction together,” Francouz said of Kuemper on Friday. “We can talk about anything, either hockey-related or non-hockey related. You know how he is: He’s always smiling. He’s positive. So it’s fun to be around.”
Tampa Bay is the first team to clinch a Finals berth in three straight seasons since the Edmonton Oilers in 1985. The Oilers won their second Stanley Cup that year after getting swept by the New York Islanders in the championship series in 1983 and then defeating the Islanders in five games in 1984.
The Lightning reach the Finals for the fifth time (also 2004, 2015, 2020, 2021), which trails only the Flyers (eight times), Oilers (seven) and Penguins (six) for the most among non-Original Six clubs.
2022 STANLEY CUP FINALS (All times MT)
Wednesday, June 15: 6 p.m. Tampa Bay at Colorado
Saturday, June 18: 6 p.m. Tampa Bay at Colorado
Monday, June 20: 6 p.m. Colorado at Tampa Bay
Wednesday, June 22: 6 p.m. Colorado at Tampa Bay
*Friday, June 24: 6 p.m. Tampa Bay at Colorado
*Sunday, June 26: 6 p.m. Colorado at Tampa Bay
*Tuesday, June 28: 6 p.m. Tampa Bay at Colorado
* If necessary
