Avalanche win first Stanley Cup since 2001 with Game 6 win over Lightning

The Colorado Avalanche are back atop hockey’s mountain after dethroning the two-time defending champions.

Behind a goal and an assist from Nathan MacKinnon, the Avalanche won the Stanley Cup for the third time in franchise history – and their first title in more than two decades – by beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 in Game 6 of the final on Sunday night.

“It feels like I’m in disbelief,” MacKinnon said after the game. “It’s hard to describe, but to see all of these warriors battle ... it just feels unbelievable.”

It’s the first title for this core group led by MacKinnon, captain Gabriel Landeskog, Mikko Rantanen and Cale Makar and it follows years of playoff disappointment. The Avalanche lost in the second round each of the past three seasons after getting knocked out in the first round in 2018.

With a mix of speed, high-end talent and the experiences gained from those defeats, Colorado broke through this time, earning every bit of the championship by knocking off the team that hoisted the Cup the past two years. Like the Avalanche fully expected, it wasn’t easy.

After an early turnover by Makar leading to Steven Stamkos’ goal that put them in a hole and several more bumps and bruises, the Avalanche tied it when MacKinnon beat 2021 playoff MVP Andrei Vasilevskiy with a near-perfect shot and went ahead on another big goal by trade deadline acquisition Artturi Lehkonen. They locked things down by holding on to the puck and not letting Tampa Bay even shoot on Darcy Kuemper in the third period.

When they did, he was there. Brought in from Arizona in a trade last summer to shore up the sport’s most important position, Kuemper was solid again and made his most important save with under seven minutes left when he slid over