Vasilevskiy: hero of the day! Tampa Bay leads!
Colorado started very strong gaining the early initiative. Bad positioning by Tampa ended with a goal by Landeskog. The loss was equalized by Kucherov (PP goal) with a beautiful shot under the crossbar. Tampa's next mistake was taken advantage of by Rantanen, who scored a goal after a one-on-one shot.
The second period saw long periods of boring play from both sides and a miss by Burakovsky in a perfect situation.
The third period was Tampa's showdown: two goals and Vasilevskiy's great save after MacKinnon's shot in the last second of the game (19:59!).
-------------------------------- TB - COL 3:2 (1:2, 0:0, 2:0) PP 4/1-2/0
Goals:
0-1 Landeskog 4:30 (assist: MacKinnon)
1-1 Kucherov 9:20 (PPG, Killorn, McDonagh)
1-2 Rantanen 12:19 (MacKinnon)
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2-2 Maroon 11:29 (no assists)
3-2 Rutta 11:58 (Foote, Perry)
Penalties:
TB Cirelli (2/Hooking), Kucherov (2/Roughing), Point (2/goalie interf.)
COL Landeskog (2+2 High sticking), Burakovsky (2/Slashing), Mac Kinnon (2/Roughing), Makar (2/Roughing)
And in "Solo Hockey" (the test of the new season), it's completely different!
After three games, Tampa Bay leads 2-1.
Game 2
After two periods, a deserved tie for both teams and three excellent defenses by Vasilevskiy.
Then I rolled a Very Rare Event: Vasilevskiy knocked the puck into his own goal!
However, the end of the game was Tampa's showcase: Kucherov and Cirelli (goal after a huge confusion under the goal) gave them victory.
TB - COL 3:2 (0:1, 1:0, 2:0) PP 1/1-0/0
Goals:
0-1 O'Connor 3:17 (assist: Compher)
1-1 Point 4:58 (PPG, Palat)
1-2 MacKinnon 3:10
2-2 Kucherov 16:14 (McDonagh, Killorn)
3-2 Cirelli 19:06
Penalties:
TB Colton (2/Tripping), Sergachev (2/Roughing)
COL E.Johnson (2/Hooking), Landeskog (2/Roughing)
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Game 3
This time the visitors triumphed on Tampa's ice, thanks to Kuemper's excellent saves. Avalanche's better physical condition proved to be the deciding factor.
