Nathan MacKinnon scored a goal and added an assist, and Artturi Lehkonen scored the Stanley Cup-winning for the Colorado Avalanche, who defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning by a 2-1 count in Game 6 at Amalie Arena.
Darcy Kuemper made 22 saves to backstop the Avalanche to its first title since 2001 and third NH L crown overall in franchise history which dates back to 1979, when the club, then known as the Quebec Nordiques, entered as an expansion team after beginning life in the World Hockey Association, where it won the Avco Cup in 1977.
After Steven Stamkos opened the scoring 3:48 into the first, MacKinnon evened things up 1:54 with his 13th of the playoffs, which tied for the league lead with Evander Kane, with the assists going to Bowen Byram and captain Gabriel Landeskog.
Lehkonen snapped a bouncing puck by Andrei Vasilevskiy with 7:32 left in the middle frame to give Colorado a lead that would relinquish. MacKinnon and Josh Manson got the helpers on the eventual winner and final goal of the 2021-22 season.
Artturi Lehkonen gives the Avs their first lead in Game 6 😤#StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/3RbYGuMVxQ
— ESPN (@espn) June 27, 2022
The Avalanche (16-4) closed out each of its four series on the road, where it went 9-1 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
23-year-old Norris Trophy-winner Cale Makar won the Conn Smythe Trophy as most the most valuable player of the playoffs after finishing third in postseason scoring with 29 points (8G/21A) in 20 games this postseason.
Congratulations to the Avalanche. That was a hell of a performance and a Stanley Cup well-earned.