Vasilevsky's legacy, Kucherov's Conn Smythe Trophy campaign and Makar's ascent: what you need to know about the Stanley Cup final

One step away from the title of the team-dynasty

Regardless of the outcome of the final series, the current Tampa Bay convocation can be safely called one of the strongest in the history of the National Hockey League.

A year ago, John Cooper's wards won the Stanley Cup for the second time in a row and stood on a par with Pittsburgh, the only team in the 21st century that managed not only to win the coveted trophy, but also to defend it a year later.

However, the Floridians did not stop there and again got to the playoff showdown, thus becoming only the eighth team in league history to succeed.

How significant this achievement is, it becomes clear if we recall that the last such trick was thrown out by Edmonton from 1983 to 1985.

Then the Oilers played in the finals three times, however, they achieved success in only two of them.

The first attempt turned out to be a failure when Wayne Gretzky and company were defeated by the Islanders (0:4).

It is all the more curious that the Lightning are now chasing the New Yorkers themselves.

After all, it was the Isles, led by Mike Bossy and Brian Trottier, who were the last in history to win the final series more than twice in a row.

In the period from 1979 to 1983, Al Arbor's wards crushed Philadelphia, Minnesota (then called the North Stars), Vancouver and Edmonton in turn, and a year later they again claimed the title champion.

And if the Lightning manages to beat the Avalanche, they will not only get closer to reaching the Islanders and Canadiens, but they will also earn the right to be called a dynasty team.

In American sports, this honor is awarded to teams that have won at least three titles in a short period of time and dominated their sport.

In recent years, Chicago and Pittsburgh have claimed this status, but both lacked quite a bit.

The first won two trophies in three years, but fell apart due to the inability to maintain the roster under a hard salary cap, and the second was prevented by Alexander Ovechkin.

In 2018, the Penguins went for a third consecutive Cup, but lost in the second round to the eternal opponents of the Capitals.

Return to the top

Like their rivals, the Avalanche are hoping for a third title.

True, not in a row, but in history.

The golden years of the club came in the late 1990s - early 2000s, when the legendary Peter Forsberg, Joe Sakic and Patrick Roy shone in their composition.

Together they spent more than one amazing season and won two trophies with a difference of five years, but then the results gradually began to deteriorate, and over time the team ended up among the weakest in the league.

Suffice it to say that in the period from 2009 to 2018, she only made it to the playoffs three times, but never went beyond the first round.

Now having a number of Avalanche stars at their disposal, they are beginning to justify the hopes placed on them.

Over the past years, they have been considered one of the strongest in the West, and in 2021 they won the President's Cup for the third time in their history, but they could not go beyond the second round in the playoffs.

Two years ago, they were defeated by the future finalist - Dallas (3-4), and last year they stumbled in the confrontation with Vegas (2-4).

And in both cases, they were left without key performers.

In the course of the series with the Stars, two goalkeepers, Philipp Grubauer and Pavel Francouz, were injured, as a result of which far from the most stellar Michael Hutchinson defended the gate in the last three meetings.

A year later, the partners were set up by Nazem Kadri, who earned an eight-match disqualification for a flagrant violation of the rules on Justin Faulk.

And although this year was again not without problems with injuries among goalkeepers, the rest of Jared Bednar has nothing to complain about.

Colorado has blasted through its playoff opponents and has only lost twice so far.

"Nashville" and "Edmonton" were beaten dry, while only "St. Louis" with the Russian trio Vladimir Tarasenko - Pavel Buchnevich - Ivan Barbashev managed to upset him.

In the 21st century, only three teams have reached the decisive round of the Stanley Cup, having two defeats in their liabilities, while only one of them was able to pick up the trophy.

Los Angeles did well in 2012, while Pittsburgh and Anaheim failed in 2008 and 2003, respectively.

Therefore, it is difficult to say whether the fact that they will come to the decisive duel much more fresh will help the Avalanche.

Before the series with the Lightning, they rested for nine days, while their future opponents fought the uncompromising Rangers.

On paper, this is a sufficient argument to consider Colorado, if not a favorite, then at least a serious threat to the reigning champions.

This is also confirmed by the fact that in the regular season Tampa Bay lost both times - on their own ice in shootouts (3:4), and away in regular time (2:3).

Correspondence duel between Kucherov and Makar

And if Gabriel Landeskog became the main star of the two-legged confrontation with Colorado, then Brayden Point stood out for Tampa.

He scored two goals and one assist, ahead of Steven Stamkos (1 + 1) and Ondrej Palat (0 + 2).

And at Cooper's headquarters, they probably hope that the Canadian, who missed a solid part of the playoffs, will be able to recover for the decisive series.

The forward was injured in the seventh meeting with Toronto, after which he never went on the ice.

More recently, he has returned to training and has excellent chances to return to the line-up during the final.

However, the correspondence duel between Nikita Kucherov and Cale Makar, who are called one of the main contenders for the title of the Most Valuable Player of the playoffs (“Conn Smythe Trophy”), seems to be the most interesting.

And it is especially important for a Russian to gain the upper hand in this dispute (of course, only if he wins the title).

He finished the last two Stanley Cup games as the top scorer, but never received an award.

In 2020, it went to defender Viktor Hedman, who broke out with 10 goals and 12 assists, and Andrey Vasilevsky was recognized as the best in 2021.

At the end of the tournament, he was the leader in the percentage of saved shots (93.7%), ranked second in terms of reliability (1.9 goals per game on average) and had five shutouts in his asset.

Only Dominik Hasek (six) and Martin Brodeur (seven) recorded more "dry" matches in one single knockout round.

There is no doubt that the Russian goalkeeper can compete for the prize this time, but Kucherov is unlikely to back down either.

Although now he is only fourth in the race of scorers, he has a chance to climb back to first.

At the moment he has 23 (7 + 16) points and is second only to Mika Zibanejad (10 + 14), Leon Draisaitl (7 + 25) and Connor McDavid (10 + 23), who completed their performances.

The same cannot be said about Makar, who is only one point behind Kucherov (5 + 17).

And this is especially impressive, because the 23-year-old Canadian is a defender, not a striker.

In history, only 11 defensive linemen have managed to show higher productivity in the playoffs, but Cale has plenty of time to improve his position.

If he scores five points in the final, he will surpass Miro Heiskanen and break into the top 4.

In this case, only Al McInnis, Brian Leach and Paul Coffey will remain higher.

Vasilevsky factor

As for the goalkeepers, this confrontation promises to be quite one-sided.

Vasilevsky markedly outperforms both Colorado goalkeepers and is far more likely to be a Finals hero than either of them.

Even taking into account the fact that the main goalkeeper of the team Darcy Kemper, who was eliminated during the first game with Edmonton, recovered from the injury.

He was replaced by Francoise, but did not perform very well.

In four incomplete meetings, he missed ten goals and repelled 90.8% of shots.

True, his competitor for the first place has this indicator even worse (89.7%).

Vasilevsky continues to perform at the highest level and strengthen his legacy.

At the moment, he already has 61 playoff victories in his asset and, even before the end of the current tournament, he can catch up with Dominik Hasek and reach 12th place in NHL history.

It is noteworthy that the leader in the list is the ex-goalkeeper of Montreal and Colorado Rua, who will be extremely difficult to catch up with.

During his career, the legendary Canadian won 151 meetings.

Nevertheless, now Vasilevsky enjoys no less respect than Rua in his time.

Landeskog called him the best goalkeeper in the league, and Gretzky - special, along the way comparing him with the legendary Grant Fuhr and Billy Smith.

And the authoritative portal The Score placed Andrey on the first line in the list of contenders for the Conn Smythe Trophy - above Makar, McKinnon and Kucherov.

In turn, the editors of the official NHL website were less supportive.

According to the results of the voting, he became only the third, skipping ahead of both Canadians.

And if Vasilevsky demonstrates another phenomenal performance in the final, he will become the second goalkeeper in history to be recognized as the most valuable hockey player in the playoffs for two seasons in a row.

Before him, this bar was only submitted to Bernard Parent, who led Philadelphia to victories in the 1974-1975 finals.

Among field players, only former Pittsburgh forwards Mario Lemieux and Sidney Crosby can boast of this.