Colorado Avalanche embracing test to beat the best

There will be no asterisks on the Stanley Cup this season.

The finals feature the Colorado Avalanche, which led the Western Conference with 119 points, and the Tampa Bay Lightning, winners of the last two cups. The Avalanche will have home-ice advantage in the series that starts Wednesday at Ball Arena.

“We’re excited,” Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog said after Sunday’s practice. “To be the best, you’ve got to beat the best.”

The Lightning dropped the first two games of their Eastern Conference Finals series to the New York Rangers before winning four straight, including Saturday’s 2-1 victory to advance to their third straight championship series. Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said there are multiple reasons why Tampa Bay has a chance to win another championship but stressed the importance of his team staying disciplined.

“We have to play to our identity,” Bednar said. “We have specific keys that we look at and things that we try to accomplish in the offensive zone.

“It has to start with our skating. They’re a real deep team, highly committed team on the defensive side of things, dangerous offensively, great goaltending.”

Tampa Bay goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy limited the Rangers to one goal in the final three games of the series and boasts a 92.8 save percentage this postseason.

“He’s big. He’s mobile. He makes good reads,” Landeskog said. “It seems like he’s a calm goalie that makes the stops that he needs to make.”

On the other end of the ice, Steven Stamkos leads the Lightning with nine goals this postseason, while Nikita Kucherov owns a team-best 23 points. Tampa Bay scored multiple goals in all six games against the Rangers and its sweep of the Florida Panthers in the second round.

“We’re excited for the matchup,” Avalanche defenseman Bowen Byram said.

“They’re a really good team, and we’re going to have to play our best to beat them, but we’re excited for that challenge.”

The combination of strong goalie play and no shortage of goals has the Lightning looking for a three-peat. Landeskog also mentioned Tampa Bay’s depth and special teams.

While Colorado’s back in the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since the 2001 championship season, the Avalanche believe they also have the pieces to win the franchise’s third title.

“They got a lot of things going for them, and so do we,” Landeskog said.

“It should be a fun series.”