Avalanche Make Every Look Count Against Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay had the puck pointed at the Colorado net most of the night and still left with a 6-3 loss. The Lightning created the looks; the Avalanche cashed in on far fewer of them.
The gap was wide. Tampa Bay outshot Colorado 34-24 and directed 77 shot attempts to Colorado's 46. Its chances were worth 4.05 expected goals (how many goals those looks would usually produce) against 2.92 for Colorado, yet the Avalanche scored six.
The difference came at both ends. Andrei Vasilevskiy allowed five goals on 23 shots. At the other end, Mackenzie Blackwood made 31 saves on 34 shots, stopping 11 of 14 high-danger chances, so Tampa Bay's push never turned into a comeback.
Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and three assists, with Martin Necas (a goal, two assists) and Artturi Lehkonen (a goal, an assist) alongside him. For Tampa Bay, Jake Guentzel scored twice on a team-high seven shots.
No shots hit the iron; the bounces simply went Colorado's way. The win snapped a two-game skid for the Avalanche, who sit as the West's second wild card. It also ended Tampa Bay's three-game winning streak at 7-2-0.
