Bolts Blasted 7-0, Avalanche Take 2-0 Series Lead

@jayRecher

*****

Well, that wasn't good.

Valeri Nichushkin & Cale Makar each scored a pair of goals and Darcy Kuemper made 17 saves for his second career playoff shutout as the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 7-0 in Game 2 of their Stanley Cup Final matchup to take a 2-0 series lead.

The Lightning wanted to weather the storm early in this one after getting swarmed out of the gate in Game 1, but the Avalanche jumped out to an early lead thanks to some sloppy play by Tampa Bay.

Following a turnover & subsequent hooking call to Ryan McDonagh, Nichushkin re-directed an Andre Burakovsky feed past Andrei Vasilevskiy for a power play goal just 2:54 into the game.

Just over five minutes later, the Avalanche doubled their lead.

Coming down the ice on a 4-on-1 break, defenseman Josh Manson fired a shot from the right wing that beat Vasilevskiy on the blocker side to put Colorado up 2-0 at 7:55.

But wait, there was more.

At 13:52, Burakovsky found a rebound of a Mikko Rantanen shot & quickly fired it past Vasilevskiy to make it 3-0.

To make matters worse, Nichushkin scored his second of the night at 4:51 of the 2nd after a turnover behind the Tampa Bay net by Ondrej Palat to put Colorado up four.

By then the rout was on and the Lightning had no answers for the Avalanche.

Darren Helm snapped one over the glove of Vasilevskiy at 16:26 of the 2nd to make it 5-0.

Makar scored a shorthanded goal at 2:04 of the 3rd and a power play goal at 9:49 of the 3rd to finally finish the scoring for Colorado.

Yes he gave up seven, but Vasy made some incredible stops in his 24-save performance, including a tremendous glove save on Nichushkin in the 2nd.

*****

SCORING SUMMARY

1st Period

1. Colorado - PPG - Nichushkin - (Burakovsky, Newhook) - 2:54
2. Colorado - Manson - (Cogliano, Newhook) - 7:55
3. Colorado - Burakovsky - (Rantanen, Toews) - 13:52

2nd Period

1. Colorado - Nichushkin (2) - (Rantanen, Compher) - 4:51
2. Colorado - Helm - (O'Connor) - 16:26

3rd Period

1. Colorado - SHG - Makar - (Cogliano) - 2:04
2. Colorado - PPG - Makar (2) - (Rantanen, MacKinnon) - 9:49

*****

PENALTY SUMMARY

1st Period

1. Tampa Bay - McDonagh - (Hooking) - 1:01
2. Tampa Bay - Sergachev - (Delay of Game) - 8:34
3. Tampa Bay - Perry - (Roughing) - 16:12
4. Colorado - Kuemper - (Holding the Stick) - 16:12

2nd Period

1. Colorado - Johnson - (Hooking) - 5:35
2. Tampa Bay - Perry - (Roughing) - 17:42
3. Tampa Bay - Perry - (Unsportsmanlike Conduct) - 17:42
4. Colorado - Compher - (Hooking) - 17:42

3rd Period

1. Colorado - Rantanen - (Tripping) - 1:04
2. Tampa Bay - Palat - (Cross Checking) - 8:19
3. A ton of roughing penalties at 15:38

*****

What's Next For The Bolts : The Lightning are back in action on Monday night as they host the Colorado Avalanche in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final at Amalie Arena. Puck drop is slated for 8:00pm with the pregame show starting at 7:00pm on NewsRadio WFLA & Lightning Power Play on the iHeartRadio app.

PHOTO : Getty Images