He already has five goals 10 points on the power play this summer.Īvalanche: The Avs have been a mediocre penalty killing team in the postseason with a 75.7% effectiveness. The key to undermining Tampa Bay's power play is to play special attention to Nikita Kucherov. Lightning: Their power play percentage is 22.6. Lightning boast a slight advantage in defensive playĪvalanche:The Avalanche have more weapons and their power play scoring efficiency is 31.1% in the postseason. Lightning:The Lightning have given up an average of 7.95 high danger chances per playoff game and their postseason goals-against average is 2.41 They are giving up 2.86 goals per game in this postseason. But they still have Nikita Kucherov and Steve Stamkos, and Brayden Point (lower body injury) should be ready to play this series.Īvalanche: According to Natural Stat Trick, the Avalanche have given up 8.35 high danger scoring chances per game. The Lightning are not as offensively dangerous as they once were. Lightning: Salary cap issues have eroded Tampa Bay's offensive depth. They average eight more shots per game than the Lightning. Among them is spectacular puck-moving defenseman Cale Makar who has established himself as a Conn Smythe Trophy candidate.
Colorado's offensive depth is exceptional: The Avs boast nine players with five or more goals in these playoffs. Nathan MacKinnon has been magical with 11 goals in 14 games. Their scoring average is more than 1.50 goals better than the Lightning in this postseason. Here is a breakdown of how these two teams compare:Īvalanche:The Avalanche are the most dynamic offensive team in the postseason.
Ten months later, oddsmakers have the Avalanche as -175 favorites to take down the two-time defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning in the Stanley Cup Final. Last August, two months before any team had played a game in the 2021-22 NHL season, the Colorado Avalanche were announced as the early favorite to win the Stanley Cup.