Many experts spoke about the pivotal role of the fourth match in the context of the final series. In the event of a victory, the “avalanches” would create ideal conditions for themselves to triumph – and could take the cup in the next meeting at home stands. Tampa, on the other hand, needed to equalize the score in the series and finally turn the tide of the confrontation, at the same time forcing the opponent to change tactics from aggressive to more cautious.

In other words, the stakes before the game were high. Not surprisingly, the decisive match turned out to be insanely tense, and this tension was resolved only in overtime. The point in the fight was put by a scandalous goal, which will certainly be talked about even at the end of the season.

The brightest duel in the NHL finals!

The leaders are back

Before the fourth match of the finals, there was enough intrigue: can Tampa even the score in the series? Or “Colorado” – as close as possible to the coveted “cup”? In addition to global intrigues, there were also less local ones related to the composition of the teams. Fans of Colorado, for example, followed the news about the state of health of Nazem Kadri almost around the clock. The forward was injured in the series with the Oilers and underwent surgery to repair his injured thumb.

The loss of Kadri is extremely sensitive for “avalanches”. The forward not only shows high performance – in the playoffs he has 13 games and 14 (6 + 8) points, but also knows how to get under the opponent’s skin. Powerful and sometimes rough play is the main feature of the attacker, because of which his rivals do not like him.

However, Tampa had more serious problems in this regard. Nikita Kucherov was injured in the last match and it was not clear whether he would take part in the fourth game of the final. The value of the striker for the Lightning is difficult to overestimate, because the Russian is the team’s top scorer in the current playoff draw – Kucherov has 20 matches and 26 points (7 + 13).

Nikita Kucherov / Photo: © REUTERS / Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Fortunately for the fans of both teams, both forwards were in the application for the match.

Impeccable work Vasilevsky

It was vital for Tampa to survive the aggressive hockey of the Colorado, which the Evs traditionally impose on the opponent in the first minutes of the game. With this problem, the “lightning” coped quite simply – they scored first, opening the score already in the 35th second of the match. Eric Cernak threw a powerful shot to the head of Colorado goalkeeper Darcy Kemper. The puck flew at such a speed that the goalkeeper’s helmet came off and fell onto the ice. A hockey ball bounced off Camper’s head onto Anthony Cirelli’s stick, and he threw it into the empty ones.

“Tampa” was not going to stop and continued to storm the opponent’s goal in the hope of getting a more comfortable advantage. But the total advantage in shots – 17 against 4, did not result in the second abandoned puck.

And at the beginning of the second period, the alignment of forces completely changed. “Tampa” again began to suffer from the aggressive pressure of the opponent and received a 20-minute removal at the start. Vasilevsky did everything so that the “lightning” painlessly survived this minority, but an accidental rebound crossed out all his efforts – after the throw of Mikko Rantanen, the puck from the Russian’s shield bounced first into Nathan McKinnon’s skate, and then into the goal.

After the “accidental” puck, the Tampa players did not stop playing, but on the contrary, they began to attack more. And a few minutes later it brought them success – Victor Hedman, after a solo pass, sent the puck into the net with an accurate throw from an uncomfortable hand.

With a minimal advantage of the “lightning”, we decided to move the game to the middle zone in the final 20 minutes and keep the score. And so it would have continued until the final siren, if not for another random rebound: Niko Sturm shot through a penny, and the puck hit Andrew Cogliano’s knee, and bounced off him into the goal.

The Colorado goal knocked Tampa down hard, and the Lightnings completely gave the initiative to the opponent. Vasilevsky had a lot of work during this period, which he did flawlessly, making several spectacular rescues. At the same time, the posts also helped the Russian: Bowen Byram, after the pass of Valery Nichushkin, had to get into an empty corner, but he sent the puck into the goal frame.

“Tampa” still could also come forward – Kucherov picked up the puck after the face-off and delivered a strong throw, but Camper was saved by the crossbar. As a result, both teams failed to identify the winner in regular time and the meeting was moved to overtime.

The most scandalous goal of the season

In overtime, Tampa seemed to run out of energy, and fire after fire broke out in defense. As a result, this led to a dangerous counterattack by Colorado, which decided the outcome of the meeting. Kadri pushed through two defenders of the opponent and threw it exactly under the “pancake” Vasilevsky. At the same time, the audience and even the judges at first thought that the keeper made another save, because the puck got stuck in the net under the crossbar. But after a few seconds, the referees found the hockey equipment and counted the goal.

Photo: © REUTERS / Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The tense match received a worthy and bright denouement, but the most interesting thing was waiting for the fans after the game. At a press conference, head coach John Cooper said that the referees had no right to count Kadri’s puck.

Their goal in overtime should not have been counted. I will talk to you tomorrow. You will understand everything when you look at this goal,” said John Cooper after the game.

The Tampa coach believes that at the time of the abandoned puck, Colorado had six field players on the field, which means the judges should not have counted the goal. Even in the official protocol of the match, Evs had six players, but then this mistake was corrected.

According to the rules of the NHL, if a player stands at the bench without a puck, he does not affect the game episode, which means there is no violation of the number of players. It was in this situation that Kadri’s puck was thrown. So Colorado wins a well-deserved victory (3:2) – and is one step away from the coveted Stanley Cup.

NHL. Playoffs. The final. Fourth match

Tampa Bay Lightning (Tampa) – Colorado Avalanche (Denver) – 2:3 OT (1:0, 1:1, 0:1, 0:1)

Goals: Cirelli, 0:36. Hedman, 30:42. — McKinnon, 25:27 (bol.). Cogliano, 42:53. Qadri, 62:02.

Score in the series – 1:3