Nichushkin, Makar lead Avalanche to commanding Game 2 victory over Lightning in Stanley Cup final

Cale Makar barely broke a smile after scoring his second goal and Colorado's seventh of the night. He fist-bumped Mikko Rantanen to thank him for the pass and skated to the bench.

Looking like by far the better team, the Avalanche overwhelmed the Tampa Bay Lightning 7-0 in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final on Saturday night to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Coach Jared Bednar called it "as close to perfect of a game as you can get from your players."

"I feel like we played to our identity to a 'T' tonight," Makar said. "We had some good goals and stuff like that. ... It was a little bit of a weird one tonight. Obviously, we're getting opportunities but guys were able to able to capitalize, so that's good part."

WATCH | Nichushkin, Avalanche make statement in rout of Lightning:

Valeri Nichushkin scored his seventh and eighth goals of the playoffs and continued to be the best player on the ice in the final, Game 1 overtime hero Andre Burakovsky beat Andrei Vasilevskiy again and even defensive defenceman Josh Manson and 35-year-old grinder Darren Helm got in on the fun with a goal apiece. Makar, who didn't even have a shot on goal in Game 1, scored twice in the third period, inciting chants of "We want the Cup!" from a fired up crowd.

"They're playing at an elite level right now — give them credit. We are not," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "They're two good teams. They're just playing a much higher level right now than we are."

Rarely have the Lightning been completely outclassed during this run of postseason success, but they also hadn't faced an opponent like the Avalanche, who forced them into one uncharacteristic mistake after another. Colorado was dominant in every facet of the game to move two