Game 2 Preview: Looking to strike twice
Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images
It’d be twice as nice to win at home once again and be halfway to the Stanley Cup.
The Colorado Avalanche and Tampa Bay Lighting continue to roll on in this Stanley Cup Final with Game 2 tonight. Colorado is up 1-0 in the series thanks to overtime hero Andre Burakovsky.
The Avs have a golden chance to be halfway to winning it all with a win tonight. It would put Tampa Bay on the backfoot going back home. Even with the home-ice advantage, keep in mind that the Avs are still undefeated on the road in these playoffs and have that to their advantage.
Colorado Avalanche
The Avs won Game 1 Wednesday night after their 4-3 win in overtime. It wasn’t comfortable all the time, as the Avs did let a 3-1 lead slip in 48 seconds in the second period to let Tampa back in it.
The Avs will look to have a similar Game 2 as they did against the Edmonton Oilers where they dominated play for all 60 minutes. If they do this and once again get to Andre Vasilevskiy early, they will get the job done.
They might have reinforcements enter the lineup once again. Andrew Cogliano has been skating with the team and was a full participant at practice yesterday. While nothing is confirmed, it looks like he is an option to play tonight.
Projected Forwards
Gabriel Landeskog (92) - Nathan MacKinnon (29) - Valeri Nichushkin (13)
Andre Burakovsky (95) - J.T. Compher (37) - Mikko Rantanen (96)
Mikko Lehkonen (62) - Darren Helm (43) - Logan O’Connor (25)
Alex Newhook (18) - Nico Sturm (78) - Andrew Cogliano (11)
Projected Defenders
Devon Toews (7) - Cale Makar (8)
Jack Johnson (3) - Josh Manson (42)
Bowen Byram (4) - Erik Johnson (6)
Tampa Bay Lightning
The Lightning will be feeling down after losing Game 1 when they forced it to overtime. They nearly stole it in Game 1 but their mistakes early and late on were killer for them.
The Bolts did not move the puck cleanly causing three of the four goals for the Avs and were beaten 5-on-5. Jon Cooper even said that the better team had won and admitted that they were not deserving of being in the game.
Tampa will look to get back to form en route to their possible three-peat. They will turn to Vasilevskiy who will look to get better after a shaky Game 1. They also need Brayden Point to continue to get back to form as he still is returning from injury to get even before heading home.
Projected Forwards
Ondrej Palat (18) - Steven Stamkos (91) - Nikita Kucherov (86)
Brandon Hagel (38) - Anthony Cirelli (71) - Alex Killorn (17)
Nick Paul (20) - Ross Colton (79) - Brayden Point (21)
Patrick Maroon (14) - Pierre Eduoard-Bellemare (41) - Corey Perry (10)
Projected Defenders
Victor Hedman (77) - Jan Rutta (44)
Ryan McDonagh (27) - Erik Cernak (81)
Mikhail Sergachev (98) - Zach Bogosian (24)
Goaltending
We will see the two number ones once again, with Darcy Kuemper for the Avs and the aforementioned Vasilevskiy for the Bolts.
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