The German ice hockey pro Nico Sturm and the Colorado Avalanche took another step towards the title in the Stanley Cup finals with a thumping victory.

In game two of the best-of-seven series, the Denver NHL team impressively defeated the defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning 7-0 to lead 2-0.

Sturm showed a solid performance, but could not collect any scorer points in almost eleven minutes of ice time.

The 27-year-old, who only moved to Denver three months ago, has a good chance of winning the Stanley Cup as the fifth German.

Three days after the 4-3 win after extra time in the first duel, the Avalanche didn't give the Florida team a chance this time.

Colorado took the lead in the third minute and it was 3-0 after the first third.

In the second and third sections, the main round leader of the Western Conference followed up with two more goals each.

Valery Nichushkin (2), Josh Manson, Andre Burakovsky, Darren Helm and Cale Makar (2) scored the goals.

"We just stuck to our plan," Makar analyzed the shooting festival soberly: "We worked well and just played our system."

The Avalanche can now take another big step towards the title in game three on Tuesday night with an away win.

“The next game is always the most difficult.

We want to catch them by surprise early on,” said Makar.

For Tampa Bay, which won the title in both 2020 and 2021, the game almost has the character of an endgame.