What Went Wrong: How Badly Did the Avalanche Break This Team?!

Well, Tampa Bay Lightning, I'm about to say some words that are long overdue: Consider your Stanley Cup window shut.

I'll say this. The Bolts did surprise a few people with their late season surge. After all, the team was coming off a very embarrassing first round loss to their in-state rivals, the Florida Panthers. They also lost Steven Stamkos to the Nashville Predators during the offseason, and they were actually on the verge of possibly missing the playoffs by January. But a funny thing happened. They won games. And kept winning. The Bolts actually made it to 2nd place and had a good chance of winning the Atlantic. They didn't, but still, 2nd place means home ice.

And yet after all of that, what's the result? An embarrassing first round loss to little brother again. In a series where Tampa Bay had home ice. Three of the Bolts' losses were at home. Oh brother.

Yeah, the Colorado Avalanche broke this team in 2022. Speaking of 2022, that's the last time they won a series. The 2022 Eastern Conference Final against the Rangers was their last victory. They've now lost four straight series since then. The 2022 Final against the Avs, ending the Leafs' playoff series win drought in 2023, and now, back-to-back first round exits against their less talented little brother from Sunrise.

Yeah, the team is absolutely shattered after their three-peat plans were kiboshed. But you know who's the most broken out of that team? You won't believe it.

Where the hell has Nikita Kucherov been? The man had four points in the playoffs this year--all of them helpers. That's been the case with Kuch lately. He has now gone 15 straight games without a goal. In the four straight playoff series losses, Kucherov has found the net twice. That's 22 games! I definitely remember one of the goals; Game Five of the 2022 Final, and he needed a two-man advantage to score it. Only goal he had in that Final. The other goal: Game One vs Toronto in 2023. Two years without a playoff goal. But remember, folks, this is the guy who "should be MVP" over MacKinnon. Bolts fans have been salty over Mack winning the MVP last year, and they are doubling down on it this year. "But he won the Ross again this year!" Yeah, only because Mack rested for the rest of the season.

Jake Guentzel was the points leader for the Bolts in this year's playoffs with six points (three of each). Victor Hedman, who has also been with the Bolts through the great times and the catastrophic, had only three points (all helpers). Brayden Point's two points in this series both went in the net. Same went for Nicholas Paul--two points, both goals. Brandon Hagel's puck luck was all bad. Not a single point and he was a -4 for the entire series. As for Andrei Vasilevskiy: another disastrous postseason. 1-4 record, a 3.27 GAA, and an .872 SV%. The early exits are doing a lot of damage to the stats of one of the best goaltenders in the league today.

As I said before, the Cup window is closed. The Lightning, try as they might, will not be back to the dominant, Thanos-like team that they were a few years ago. They'll still be a playoff team, but a very beatable one. The fact that they can't beat the Panthers tells me that real teams will flatten them. Oh well, at least they'll have those Cups to remember.

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