NHL Stanley Cup Final 2022: Comments, Celebration Highlights from Avalanche's Victory

After 21 years, the Colorado Avalanche are again Stanley Cup champions. And in order for that to happen, they had to take down the two-time defending titleholders.

It was a challenge, but the Avs proved they were up for it. On Sunday night, they defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, capturing the Cup for the third time in franchise history.

"There's a huge sense of satisfaction. Relief is part of it right away when I heard the buzzer go," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said, per Tom Gulitti of NHL.com. "I'm just so proud. Really, honestly, I'm just so proud and excited for our guys to get rewarded."

The Avalanche seemed poised to end the series two nights earlier. After winning Game 4 on the road to take a 3-1 lead, they returned home for a Game 5 matchup on Friday.

Against many teams, Colorado likely would have ended the series that night at Ball Arena in Denver and celebrated in front of its home fans. But Tampa Bay wasn't going to go down that easy and won 3-2 to stave off elimination.

However, that was only momentary. And for the Avalanche, the fact that they beat a team as talented and resilient as the Lightning—and denied them a three-peat—only made it sweeter on Sunday.

“To beat them is probably a little more satisfying, to be honest, because they are champions,” Colorado forward Andrew Cogliano said, per Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press. “They know how to win. And, ultimately, when you can beat the champions, you know you really earned it.”

In Game 6, the Avs overcame an early one-goal deficit by scoring twice in the second period. Nathan MacKinnon knotted the game at 1, then Artturi Lehkonen gave Colorado its first lead of the night just past the game's midway point.

That's all it would take. The Avalanche got a solid performance from goaltender Darcy Kuemper, who denied 22 of the Lightning's 23 shot attempts and held them scoreless for the final 56 minutes and 12 seconds.

When the final buzzer sounded, Kuemper and his Colorado teammates threw their sticks in the air as pure elation broke out on the ice:

Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog was the first to get his hands on the Stanley Cup, but it didn't take long for him to start sharing it with the rest of the team:

And the celebration didn't stop when the Avalanche returned to the visiting locker room at Amalie Arena:

This was the fifth straight year that Colorado had made the playoffs, but it had been eliminated in the second round each of the previous four postseasons.

However, it was only a matter of time before the Avalanche made a deeper playoff run, and this seemed like the year for it. They finished the regular season with the most points in the Western Conference and only got stronger once the postseason arrived.

Colorado defenseman Cale Makar, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy for being the MVP of the playoffs, wasn't surprised that his team got it done this year.

“It’s just been building over time,” he said, per Whyno. “I’ve been here only three years. A couple of tough exits in the playoffs. It was just all leading up to this.”

The Avalanche may not be done contending for the Cup anytime soon, either. Makar is only 23, and there are plenty of other young, talented players on the team's roster.

Tampa Bay won the Stanley Cup in 2020 and 2021. Now, it could be time for Colorado to begin a streak of its own. At the least, it seems unlikely to be another 21 years before it wins another Stanley Cup Final.