Stanley Cup 2022 — Best sights and sounds from Lightning-Avalanche Game 2

The Tampa Bay Lightning experienced a Colorado Avalanche in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final on Saturday — pun intended.

Colorado scored early and often, notching three goals in the first period. The onslaught never let up, as the Avalanche routed the Lightning 7-0. Valeri Nichushkin and Cale Makar scored two goals apiece for Colorado.

For the Lightning, it was their largest margin of defeat in a playoff game, per ESPN Stats & Information. Before Saturday’s blowout, the biggest margin was five goals (Game 1 in the first round of the 2022 postseason against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Game 6 in the 1996 conference quarterfinals against the Philadelphia Flyers).

Tampa Bay is now in an 0-2 hole for their second straight series, which could be the beginning of the end for their three-peat aspirations. The previous five teams that have seen that series deficit in both the semifinals/Conference Finals and the Cup Final of the same postseason failed to win the championship. The most recent instance was the Chicago Blackhawks in 1965.

Fans in Ball Arena brought the energy all night to help their team secure a 2-0 series lead. Some spectators turned their fandom into formal attire, while others celebrated an upcoming wedding rinkside.

Here’s a look at the best scenes from Game 2 of the Stanley Cup.

Final takeaways

Utter domination by Colorado. There’s no other phrase for a 7-0 win.

The Avalanche were in control from start to finish, and it was no fluke effort. Colorado hustled. They won the races, owned the neutral zone, and simply skated faster, harder and hungrier than the Lightning. Tampa Bay looks like they can’t keep up. They’re running out of time already to prove that’s not the case.

When Cale Makar buried two more on Tampa Bay in the third, including one shorthanded, it was an emphatic nail in the coffin. Colorado wouldn’t stop pushing. The Lightning never found ways to push back.

What happens now as the series shifts south? Can the Lightning find their legs in lower…