Second Period Offering Leaves Tampa Bay on the Cusp

Tampa Bay makes itself Poignant in Stanley Cup Finals
Lightning cover their first spread of the series
Lightning chase Kuemper as Vasilevskiy is back in the fold

Nicholas Paul scored off of a Ross Colton assist 1:26 into the second period and from that point, the Tampa Bay Lightning scored three more times in 13:32 to blow past the Colorado Avalanche, 6-2, in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup’s best of seven series at Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay.

Got ourselves a series. ⚡️#StanleyCup

— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) June 21, 2022

This was a revenge game at best after Colorado destroyed the Lightning, 7-0, on Saturday night to take a 2-0 lead in the series. Steven Stamkos, Pat Maroon, and Corey Perry’s power-play goal followed Paul in a commanding performance for Tampa Bay.

What if we told you we had @patmaroon on the mic when he scored last night? 😏 pic.twitter.com/N5EVFzQLGp

— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) June 21, 2022

Ondrej Palat set up Perry as Palat also put Tampa Bay ahead for good at 2-1 at the 14:54 mark in the first period. Palat has been surprising on the offensive attack in the playoffs as he has passed center Steven Stamkos with 19 points and Stamkos has pushed over 17 points.

Both of them lead the Lightning with 10 goals each. It was the first win for Tampa Bay over Colorado this season as the Avalanche took the two regular-season games before winning Games 1 & 2 in the Stanley Cup last Wednesday and Saturday. Gabriel Landeskog scored the Avalanche’s two goals as he opened scoring in the game on assists from Mikko Rantanen and Cale Makar.

The duo assisted Landeskog at 4:43 in the second to cut the Lightning lead to 3-2. Tampa Bay brought their own physicality to the game as the Lightning outhit Colorado, 40-27.

Lightning Turn Tables and Cover Point Spread

The Colorado Avalanche set their own covers in Games 1 & 2 as they were favored by (-145) and (-150).

Monday evening:

Tampa Bay brought its cover into Game 3 as the Lightning covered (-120) in its 6-2 victory. The OVER/UNDER has been placed at 6 in all three games so far and the two teams have covered that with the Avalanche’s 4-3 and 7-0 wins at Ball Arena with the Lightning netting a 6-2 win in Amalie Arena last night.

As Colorado took that aforementioned 7-0 win in Game 2 on Saturday evening, the Avalanche’s likelihood to win the Stanley Cup was sitting at (-600) while Tampa Bay was well below at (+500).

Going into the Finals, the Avalanche started as a (-195) favorite to win it’s first Cup since 2001. In the latest odds from Caesar’s Sportsbook, Tampa Bay is back to (-115) as the favorite on the moneyline. In Wednesday night’s Game 4 in Tampa, the Lightning (-105) and the Avalanche (-115) are all but even. The odds opened with both teams sporting (-110). The puck line is set with Colorado (-1.5) (+220) and Tampa Bay (+1.5) (-260) as well for Game 4. The OVER/UNDER is once again set at 6 for Wednesday night’s Game 4.

The total has been OVER in four of the Avalanche’s last five games while it has been UNDER in 10 of the Lightning’s last 14 games.

Vasilevskiy Applaudable; Kuemper Falls in Amalie as Lightning Strikes

Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy had work to do after giving up a 7-0 decision to the Avalanche at Ball Arena in Game 2.

Please Note:

He was on point Monday night as he stopped 37 of 39 Colorado Avalanche shots in rendering their offense a major downfall. He showed his fervor and ability with one of the more epic bounce-back performances in the recent history of the Stanley Cup Finals.

He has orchestrated a .920 save percentage in the playoffs after holding strong at .916 in the regular season.

Meanwhile, after Tampa Bay’s Pat Maroon scored and gave the Lightning a 5-2 lead at 11:15 in the second period, Colorado coach Jared Bender pulled Darcy Kuemper and inserted Pavel Francouz as the goalie.

The Lightning scored on Francouz as well as Palat and Victor Hedman fed Corey Perry, who scored on a stickleback behind Francouz at 14:58 in the second stanza.