Lightning Take Finals Rematch, Shut Out Avalanche 5-0

The Colorado Avalanche enjoyed Amalie Arena a lot more the last time they were there.

Down Cale Makar, the Avalanche were handed their lunch, as the Lightning and Andrei Vasilevsky shut them down on their way to a 5-0 victory. It was the first matchup between the two teams since the Stanley Cup finals. There was definite animosity between the two teams, but one team clearly got the better of the other.

Brandon Hagel scored two goals for the Lightning, while Brayden Point, Corey Perry, and Mikhail Sergachev also found the back of the net. Killorn added three assists on the evening. Vasilevsky stopped all 30 shots he saw.

In net for the Avalanche, Alexandar Georgiev stopped 27 of the 32 shots he faced.

In the first period, the Lightning controlled the majority of the play. They slowed the Avalanche down in the neutral zone significantly, and didn’t allow them to enter the offensive zone with speed.

That advantage eventually paid off.

After multiple great chances, the Lightning were finally able to solve Georgiev.

On a Lightning powerplay, both Avalanche defenders were caught up high, leaving Corey Perry all alone. Perry had plenty of time to maneuver the puck, before getting it on his backhand and beating Georgiev up high.

The Perry goal gave the Lightning the one goal lead heading into the second period.

The second period was a disaster for the Avalanche.

After failing on two powerplays to start the second period, the Avalanche got in their own way. Quite literally.

Vasilevsky made a big stop on Rantanen at one end of the ice, sending the Lightning the other way. Both Devon Toews and Sam Girard stopped skating and stopped communicating. Cirelli beat them both to the puck, sending it to a wide open Hagel to give the Lightning a two goal lead.

It didn’t stop there.

On their second powerplay of the game, the Lightning capitalized again. A puck bounced around to the front of the net, and when Nichuskin went to clear it, Point got his stick on it and it slid past Georgiev.

With under two minutes left in the second, the Lightning put the game away.

On a breakout, Rantanen felt he was tripped cutting to the middle of the ice. The referees disagreed, and the Lightning had an odd man rush entering the zone after Erik Johnson fell over. Killorn dropped the puck to Hagel, who wasted no time firing it past Georgiev for his second of the game.

Sergachev put the finishing touches on the blowout with a third period goal, as the Lightning walked away with a 5-0 victory. These two teams meet again in just five days, with the next matchup at Ball Arena.

The Avalanche will now look to salvage this road trip on Saturday, when they take on the Florida Panthers. The game starts at 4 PM MST.