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The Tampa Bay Lightning lost Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals Wednesday night, dropping a 4-3 decision to the Colorado Avalanche in overtime. The game started furiously, with the Avs players flying around the ice and Tampa Bay having a hard time slowing down their speed. Eventually, the Lightning would settle in and through the middle of the game, turned the style of play more to their liking. They were unable however to maintain that momentum and Andre Burakovsky eventually buried the game-winning a little more than a minute into OT.
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While there are certainly some things that the Lightning will need to address, there is still plenty of things to take away from Game 1. Much of that should instill confidence in the two-time defending champion Lightning.
Here are the four reasons the Lightning should not be worried after losing Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals to the Colorado Avalanche.
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4 Reasons Why the Lightning Should Not Be Concerned after Losing Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals vs. the Colorado Avalanche
1. Tampa Bay has been here before
It's obviously never ideal losing the first game of a playoff series. But it is by no means a death warrant either. In fact, the winner of Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals the last four years, went on to lose the series three times. That includes Tampa Bay in 2020.
But beyond that, this Lightning team is in familiar territory from this postseason as well. They lost Game 1 in the first round to the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-0. They went on to win that series in seven, on the road. After sweeping the Carolina Hurricanes, the Lightning then dropped Game 1 vs. the New York Rangers. That was also on the road, at Madison Square Garden. They even lost Game 2 of that series before winning four straight.
That game was actually the first time Tampa Bay had lost two straight games in the playoffs during their three-year reign of dominance.
The Rangers take a 2-0 series lead over the back-to-back defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning with a 3-2 win at home in game 2 with goals from Mika Zibanejad, Kaapo Kakko & K'Andre Miller. With back-to-back wins, they end the Lightning's record of 17-0 after a loss.
— Adamo Marinelli (@adamo_marinelli) June 4, 2022
Clearly, the Lightning do not overreact to losing a single game.
2. Andrei Vasilevskiy will be much better
One of the biggest surprises in the Game 1 loss was the play of goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy. For the first time in his playoff career, which spans 99 games, he allowed three goals in the first period. The first two goals you can consider to be soft goals that he generally never allows.
Both Gabriel Landeskog and Valeri Nichushkin beat the future Hall of Fame goaltender on shots he could clearly see. Landeskog's wrister popped just over his left pad as he was slightly out of position. Then, following a Tampa Bay turnover, Nichushkin got a clean shot from between the circles that was deflected in front, beating Vasilevskiy 5-hole. Despite the deflection, he had clear sight lines and that's a save he normally makes.
From that moment on, Tampa Bay's goalie played extremely well. I would expect that to continue in Game 2. Remember that stat above after a loss. Vasilevskiy was the starter in all of those, including five shutouts.
3. Jon Cooper provides a calm, steady hand
After the overtime loss, Jon Cooper had a very straight forward takeaway. He pointed out that the team that deserved to win the game, won the game. But he followed that up with the fact that Tampa Bay was not within a country mile of their best performance.
Lightning rue Game 1 loss: 'We weren't our best': Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper shook his head Wednesday night after the Game 1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche, saying his team wasn't at its best "by a country mile." https://t.co/mZC7mey48E pic.twitter.com/zl8wcBRtTv
— JPDAILYSPORTS (@JCPGATA) June 16, 2022
That should worry Avalanche fans. And it was not hyperbole either. Tampa Bay turned the puck over numerous times, something they rarely did all season. Colorado outshot the Lightning 38-23, had many more good scoring chances. The building was electric, as it was the first Finals game in 21 years there. Everything was pointing in the favor of Colorado. Yet, the Avs needed overtime to beat the Lightning in Game 1.
4. Injury Updates
One of the key storylines entering the Stanley Cup Finals was health. The Lightning had been without one of their leaders, Brayden Point, since the first round. After a month-long absence, he returned. Even though he did not appear to be full strength, Point logged 17:59 of ice time and tallied an assist.
Meanwhile, the Avalanche are still without two of their forwards, including Nazem Kadri.
While the rest of the Avalanche are not skating today, Nazem Kadri and Andrew Cogliano are on the ice getting in a workout. pic.twitter.com/S8OvFU3UrO
— Stephen Whyno (@SWhyno) June 16, 2022
Kadri was hurt in the Western Conference Finals after being hit hard into the boards by Evander Kane. He injured his thumb which required surgery on June 6. It's possible he returns but that is a bit of a long shot. Andrew Cogliano also was injured last series and had surgery. His outlook is slightly better toward making a return. But again, that would not happen until likely Game 5 at the earliest.
By no means am I saying that Tampa Bay will cruise this series. The Avalanche are as skilled and deep of a team as Tampa Bay has played during their three-year run. It is not going to be easy and if they drop Game 2, then there is some reason to be concerned. But after losing Game 1, Lightning fans know that there is no reason to panic.
