This could’ve potentially had a snowball effect but Makar found his footing on the power play, where he’s playing quarterback like Russell Wilson, making a number of improvisations at the blue line that only he can. ![]() Cirelli beat the Makar-Toews pairing 36 seconds into Game 4, winning a loose puck in front of the net, as the Avalanche stood pedestrian. Although their underlying numbers indicated that some of this amounted to bad luck, the Avalanche needed a response, and they delivered. Toews carelessly tossed the puck through the middle of the ice, which directly led to Ondrej Palat’s goal and both players continuously failed to box out crashing forwards. Makar let Anthony Cirelli blow by him, then Toews failed to pick him up on Tampa’s first goal. Makar and Toews were both on the ice for four goals - three on the power play - and they weren’t just incidental passengers, either. Makar will almost certainly add the Conn Smythe to his trophy case if the Avalanche win the series, and Game 4 was an encouraging sign from Colorado’s star duo, as they played their worst game of the playoffs in the Game 3 loss. Makar and Toews responded emphatically from their worst game of the playoffsīy some distance, Cale Makar and Devon Toews have established themselves as the best defense pairing in the league, the former winning the Norris Trophy, while the latter would be a lock for Team Canada in any best-on-best competition. A much larger celebration potentially awaits you Friday night. “I’ve been waiting for this my whole life, so I figured I’d stop waiting and try to join the party,” Kadri said post-game. Although he could barely put any force behind his shot, Kadri outsmarted Mikhail Sergachev with a fantastic deke and still had the composure to beat Andrei Vasilevskiy, who made countless jaw-dropping saves to keep the Lightning’s hopes alive. ![]() ![]() Kadri was outstanding in his return, with the Avalanche holding a 78.63 percent share of the expected goals at 5-on-5 when he was on the ice, and in over 14 minutes alongside Gabriel Landeskog and Valeri Nichushkin, Colorado outchanced Tampa Bay 17-10 via Natural Stat Trick. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. We’re sure in parts of South Florida that Kadri’s goal will be viewed like the Zapruder film. Lightning head coach Jon Cooper, perhaps aided by the video sleuths of Twitter, vigorously stated that Kadri’s goal should’ve been overturned, with six Avalanche skaters on the ice, as Nathan MacKinnon took his time to hop over the boards. In the midst of the best season of his career, all Kadri wants to do is contribute to the Avalanche’s goal of lifting an elusive Cup, but of course his moment in the sun was imbued with controversy. Kadri received a storybook ending to this saga on Wednesday night, roofing the game-winner into the top of the net, and it took a few uneasy seconds for the officials to locate the puck. It took eighteen days for Kadri to recover from the injury - and let’s face it, he is certainly laboring through the lingering effects of the ailment. Nazem Kadri wasn’t going to let the culminating point of his career be ruined by anything, immediately undergoing thumb surgery with the goal of eventually returning to the Final. The controversy surrounding Kadri’s winner shouldn’t ruin his moment ![]() But all good things must come to an end, and the Colorado Avalanche appear on the verge of their first title since 2001, after Nazem Kadri had his Kirk Gibson moment, scoring a controversial overtime winner in his return to action.Īt the midway point of the series, we have a few observations, with the Lightning facing the proverbial music. Hockey fans across the world can rejoice as we got the Stanley Cup Final we all deserved for surviving the pandemic, a dynamic showdown between what clearly are the league’s two best teams this year. After a controversial overtime winner in Game 4, the Colorado Avalanche are only one win away from the Stanley Cup.
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