5
0
Tampa Bay’s luck runs out.
COL-3
TB-2 (OT)
Colorado Leads the Series 3-1
Andrei Vasilevskiy allowed three goals on 38 shots for the loss. If there were any justice in the world he’d have gotten the win, but Colorado got two of their goals on some puck luck and the rest is history.
First Period
0:36 TB Cirelli (3), (Cernak)
Second Period
5:17 COL MacKinnon (12), (Rantanen, Makar)(PP)
10:42 TB Hedman (3), (Rutta)
Third Period
2:53 COL Cogliano (3), (Sturm, Helm)
Overtime
12:02 COL Kadri (7), (Lekhonen, Kuemper)
Victor Hedman and Anthony Cirelli were the game’s second and third stars.
I feel ill. In a lot of ways that was the Lightning’s best played game of the series, but attrition and puck luck have put the Lightning on the brink of elimination. Two weird bounces off of a skate and then a leg yielded Colorado their two regulation goals. Two big injuries with a shot block that essentially took Cernak out of the game and then a skate catching Anthony Cirelli on the bicep that seriously limited the Lightning’s most effective forechecker the rest of the game. By the time OT rolled around no gas was left in the tank, with Sergachev running on fumes with turnstile defending on Kadri’s game winner.
I don’t know where the energy is going to come from for Game Five with so many guys outright hurt or at a fraction of their capability. It’s frustrating, because in Game One there was a pathway to manufacture a victory and in Game Four I think they had the balance of play in regulation and deserved a better fate. The Lightning, overall, have had one of the most impressive playoff runs in club history and it’s going to be tough to get the payoff now. Close, but likely no cigar.
Box score and extended statistics from NHL.com.
