The Tampa Bay Lightning spoiled Colorado’s party to stay in the hunt for a third straight Stanley Cup title, beating the Avalanche 3-2 on Friday night in Game 5.
Ondrej Palat scored with 6:22 remaining and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 35 shots in front of a raucous crowd hoping to celebrate the Avalanche’s first championship in 21 years.
The Cup was all shined up and in the building, too. It’s heading back to Tampa for Game 6 on Sunday night, with the Lightning down 3-2 in the best-of-seven series.
Nikita Kucherov and Jan Rutta also scored for the Lightning. Valeri Nichushkin and Cale Makar had goals for Colorado.