How the Avs are picking apart the Lightning

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How do you plan for a team as talented as the Colorado Avalanche? That is the question we explored last week, concluding two points. The first: Most every team in the National Hockey League is ill-equipped to deal with the skill and depth of the Colorado roster. The second: Teams that have given Colorado trouble took their transitional offence and deadly power play out of the equation.

Again, that’s easier said than done – you not only need a bunch of very capable two-way players, but you also need a system that allows for more meaningful puck possession, and just as importantly, a slower pace of play in the neutral zone. We have seen in years past with teams like the St. Louis Blues (as recently as the second round) and the Vegas Golden Knights (last season) that taking away Colorado’s all-tempo-all-the-time style of hockey is the most viable path to winning.

So, what did we see in the first two games of the Stanley Cup Final? Unfortunately for Tampa Bay and their quest to three-peat, a lot of futility.

No one would be foolish enough to write off Jon Cooper’s team just yet, but the Lightning look slow and are turning the puck over way too frequently. Tampa has also been all too accommodating to that Colorado power play we talked about, perhaps the strongest statistical indicator we have as to whether a team can beat the Avalanche. After two road games, the Lightning have already conceded seven power-play opportunities and three power-play goals. That’s ugly, full stop.

That’s the big concern for Cooper as this series heads back to Tampa Bay on Monday night. You’re not going to win games when your goaltender is stopping 85 per cent of shots faced, which is what the Lightning have received from Andrei