The crushing defeat in the second match of the Stanley Cup Finals not only seriously hit the Lightning's emotional state, but also put them in an extremely difficult position.
Wards of John Cooper needed a bloody nose to take over in the first home meeting - otherwise the situation could become hopeless.
In the entire history of the NHL, only four teams managed to win back from a score of 0:3, and only once did this happen in the decisive round of the playoffs.
In 1942, the Toronto hockey players made a comeback in the series with Detroit and won their fourth title.
The intrigue of the confrontation was added by the fact that the rivals approached him, having a record winning streak in their assets.
Colorado were stronger in seven straight away games, and Tampa Bay were stronger in seven home games, which was the best result in the history of both clubs.
And hardly any of them was willing to part with the opportunity to strengthen their legacy.
And this was especially true of Avalanche - another win allowed them to reach a clear second place.
Only Los Angeles in 2012 managed to take the upper hand at home for more games - ten.
And everything pointed to the fact that it was Colorado who had a better chance of success.
The absence of Braden Point was added to Tampa's game problems.
The Canadian, who recently recovered from an injury, missed the morning workout and subsequently did not get into the squad - he was replaced by Riley Nash.
In addition to the forward, Andrey Vasilevsky also missed the lesson, however, his appearance on the ice was not in doubt.
Let the Russian and missed 11 goals in the two previous meetings.
And by the ninth minute, the most valuable hockey player of last year's playoffs was twice unable to rescue partners.
But if the goal of Valery Nichushkin was canceled due to offside, then the accurate throw of Gabriel Landeskog was counted.
And, as in most cases, the Russian goalkeeper could not be called guilty.
The Lightning defenders again forgot about the need to “clean the nickel” and allowed the Swede to literally bring the puck into the net.
Along the way, he drove into Vasilevsky, but the judges did not react to the goalkeeper's displeasure and pointed to the center.
It might seem that the fans gathered at the Amalie Arena will have to witness another defeat of their team, but this time it did not crumble after the first failure.
And even though the hosts again failed to complete the period with a positive difference in throws, two out of 12 attempts were accurate at once.
First, Anthony Cirelli beat Darcy Kemper in melee style in spectacular style and completed a lightning-fast counterattack, and only 111 seconds later, Ondrej Palat scored in a similar manner.
Cech intercepted an opponent's sloppy pass, outplayed Steven Stamkos and put Tampa ahead.
Nikita Kucherov also took part in this episode.
The Russian was not marked in the protocol, but he made an important contribution.
It was he who took away one of the defenders and gave more freedom to teammates.
And as it became clear later, Kucherov was only warming up.
In the middle of the second period, having scored two assists, he recalled why he is one of the top scorers in the Stanley Cup and a contender for the Conn Smythe Trophy.
By this time, the opponents managed to exchange accurate hits.
First, Nick Paul extended the Lightning's lead to two goals, and three minutes later, Landeskog scored a double.
Moreover, he was again assisted by Mikko Rantanen and Keil Makar, who took a clear third place in points in the playoffs (7 + 19).
Less than seven minutes later, however, Kucherov caught up with him.
First, he cut out the most accurate pass to Stamkos, who was opposite the gate, and allowed the captain to “shoot” Kemper, and then played a two with Patrick Maroon.
Dimensional striker figured out the episode great and with an uncomfortable hand sent the puck exactly to the nearest nine.
This allowed Nikita not only to pass Larry Murphy to climb to 28th in playoff points, but also to 15th in Finals 2 or more games (seven).
At the same time, among the current players, he took the lead, overtaking Sidney Crosby and Patrick Kane.
In addition, Kucherov became the fourth hockey player in history who managed to score 25 or more points in three Stanley Cup games in a row.
Before him, only the legendary Wayne Gretzky, Mike Bossy and Brian Trottier could boast of such.
With a score of 2:5 in favor of the opponent, Colorado head coach Jared Bednar decided to castling and released reserve goalkeeper Pavel Francouz, but this move did not justify itself.
He managed to keep the gate intact only for three and a half minutes, after which another puck appeared in the net.
“Tampa Bay” for the first time in six games realized a numerical advantage, and Corey Perry scored a goal.
Thus, the Canadian was the first in history to score in the final for four different teams.
Previously, he excelled in the Anaheim, Dallas and Montreal.
In the third period, the opponents failed to hit the gates of each other, which was largely the merit of the goalkeepers.
But if Francouz made only five saves, then Vasilevsky was again forced to work hard.
Only in the last 20 minutes, he repelled a dozen shots, and the total number of rescues was 37. Moreover, the most memorable was issued during the first segment.
Then he first reacted to Makar's throw, and then, in a spectacular split, he did not allow JT Compfer to score.
However, the ending was overshadowed not only by the fight, but also by Kucherov's injury.
One of the worst players in the match in terms of utility, Devon Teyvz, decided to take out his anger on the leader of the opponents and hit him in the back, forcing him to leave the site.
For some time Nikita tried to come to his senses and even disturbed Francouz, but then he still went to the tribune.
True, the aggressive actions of the Canadian could have another explanation.
Earlier, the Russian himself very hard hit defender Josh Manson on the board.
Either way, Tampa Bay pulled off a crucial 6-2 win over Colorado to close the gap in the series, but its prospects don't look all that bright.
If the Floridians easily survived the absence of Point, then the loss of Kucherov can significantly reduce their chances of success in the fourth match.