With the Avs' 3-2 OT win on Wednesday night, they have captured 15 of the 16 victories needed to win the Stanley Cup. Tonight, they will have the opportunity to close out the series and hoist Lord Stanley to the rafters in front of Avalanche Faithful at Ball Arena.
It doesn’t get more poetic, unless you’re the Lightning, who now trail in the series 3-1 and will have to win three consecutive games against the Avs if they hope to maintain their Championship status.
Tampa put up a valiant fight in Game 4 to even the series at home as they did against the Rangers. Unfortunately for them, the Avs are not the Rangers. Despite scoring in the first 36 seconds of the game, and putting up 17 shots in the opening period, while keeping the Avs to four shots by blocking nearly everything, they only led 1-0 entering the second period.
After allowing the early goal, Darcy Kuemper stopped the remaining 16 shots of the period that Tampa dominated and went on to stop 37 of the 39 shots. When Kuemper’s abilities were questioned after his Game 3 performance, where he was pulled after allowing five goals in the first half of the game, he entered Game 4 and had the best performance of this playoff run. The Avs’ lacked in the first, but Darcy kept them in the game, and as the ice got worse, the Avs got better.
Even after they trailed by one, for the second time, the Avs continued to fight, tied the game at two early in the third, and kept the Lightning off the scoreboard to force overtime. The Avs entered the extra frame with the momentum that had been building and sustained the pressure until Kadri finally found the back of the net; though it would take a moment for everyone else to find the puck, it was indeed lodged in the back of the goal. Kadri proved that despite having thumb surgery merely two weeks ago, he is back and able to contribute as the hero of the game, no less.
If there were any doubts about Kadri’s or Kuemper’s capabilities, they were answered in a dramatic fashion fit for the Stanley Cup Final.
And because it is the culmination of the season, it is only natural for the media to drag out the drama, which Tampa coach Jon Cooper has ignited. In a soliloquy that sounded more like a concession speech than a post-game interview, Cooper drew attention to the fact that Kadri’s goal shouldn’t have been allowed because prior to the play, the Avalanche had too many men on the ice. He evasively alluded to it by saying, “You’re going to see what I mean when you see the winning goal,” and didn’t answer any more questions.
Looking back on the play, there are six Avs players on the ice, compared to Tampa’s SEVEN, but the rules of “Too many men on the ice” are convoluted and often discretionary. Hockey is a fast and fluid sport, so making the call is not as easy as it may seem. Hockey Operations met with four officials after the game, and all concluded that no call should have been made.
When Bednar was asked about the call, he said, “I actually see it as nothing.”
I’m ready for The Cup, are you?
To me, Coach Cooper’s ramblings were an attempt to rally his team, perhaps heighten the awareness for the refs in Game 5, or simply a Will Smith-esque unfiltered show of emotion. After controlling the first, it would be devastating to lose the game. I couldn’t put together a professional post-game interview after a huge loss. But that’s why, among several reasons why I am not a professional athlete or coach. However, with how the Avs were playing in overtime, it certainly should not have been a surprise. After sixty minutes, the game was undecided, and in the 12:02 minutes of OT, the Avs outshot the Lightning 10-3. They were the better team when they needed to be.
And now they are only one win, and possibly only a few hours, away from hockey immortality.
I’ve checked the weather forecast and looks like we are in for a summer snowstorm, with a solid chance of a Mac Attack.