Members of the Colorado Avalanche celebrate a 7-0 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning in game two of the Stanley Cup Final at Ball Arena on Saturday, June 18, 2022. (Photo: Harry How/Getty Images)
It was total, complete and utter domination from start to finish.
The Colorado Avalanche routed the Tampa Bay Lightning ,7-0, in game two of the Stanley Cup Final Saturday night at Ball Arena. The Avalanche leads the series two games to none.
The Avs did everything right and the Lightning never had an answer.
Valeri Nichushkin started the onslaught at 2:54 of the first period when he scored a power play goal. Josh Manson and Andre Burakovsky added goals to make it 3-0 at the first intermission.
More of the same in the second period. Nichushkin added his second goal at 4:51 and later, Darren Helm scored to push the Avs lead to 5-0 at the second intermission.
Then Cale Makar took over in the third period. He had not tallied a point in the Stanley Cup Final before he put a short-handed goal past Lightning goalie 2:04 into the period. Then he added a power play goal with 10:11 remaining to cap the scoring.
Mikko Rantanen had three assists. Andrew Cogliano, back in the lineup despite a hand injury, and Alex Newhook each had two assists.
Avs goalie Darcy Kuemper stopped all 16 shots he faced to record the shutout.
It was a blowout of staggering proportion on the biggest stage in hockey.
Colorado will be on the road for the next two games in the series. Game three will be in Tampa Bay on Monday, June 20 at 6 p.m. MDT.