Avalanche Look to Seize the Moment in Potential Series-Clinching Game 6

It all comes down to this.
The Colorado Avalanche are focused on seizing their opportunity to close out the 2022 Stanley Cup Final over the two-time defending champions in the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 6 on Sunday night at Amalie Arena.

In Colorado's last game at Amalie Arena, the group claimed a 3-1 series lead in dramatic fashion with their 3-2 overtime Game 4 thriller on Wednesday. But after returning back home to Ball Arena for Game 5 with the Stanley Cup in the building and the potential to clinch in front of their fans, the team fell short against the experienced and determined Bolts, who kept their season - and attempt to win three-straight times - forced a Game 6 with their 3-2 victory.

"Everybody can say there's not but everybody had a little nerves since it was the first time (to clinch the Stanley Cup)," Avalanche forward Mikko Rantanen said following morning skate ahead of Game 6 on Sunday. "The second time is going to be easier. We've been quick learners the whole postseason after losses."
While Colorado's dominant 2022 postseason run and 15-4 record en route to its first Stanley Cup Final appearance since 2001 featured sweeps in both the First Round over the Nashville Predators and over the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference Final, the group knew it would be no easy feat to dethrone the back-to-back champions.
And as they approach Game 6 with yet another chance to become 2022 Stanley Cup Champions - but must do so as the visitors in front of an electric crowd at Amalie Arena - the Avalanche are looking to utilize insight from their Second Round series against the St. Louis Blues, where the circumstances were similar, but the stakes were far less back in May.
Against the Blues, the Avalanche also had held a 3-1 series lead, but following the team's first overtime loss of the postseason in Game 5 - which the team has gone 5-1 in overtime this postseason, tying the 1996 Stanley Cup winning team for the most OT wins in a playoff year in franchise history - the series returned to St. Louis for Game 6, where Colorado rose victorious with a 3-2 win and its first advancement past the Second Round after three-straight exits in that very round prior.
"In the St. Louis series, the exact same thing happened," Rantanen said. "It's about resetting. We had a chance at home, but now we have a chance on the road. We know they're going to bring their best game. We've got to be ready for that. Every individual has to be responsible and get ready for that… It's just about staying in the moment shift-by-shift and not thinking ahead. They might score the first goal, but it's just about resetting."

During this postseason run, Colorado has been a stellar team on the road with a league-best 8-1 record and earned each of its first three series-clinching wins as the visitor. It's only road loss to-date occurred in an uncharacteristic 6-2 loss in Game 3 of the Final against the Bolts.
And while the Avalanche are anticipating the toughest game of this run - and perhaps their careers - yet, the group is maintaining a narrow focus on the singular task at hand of simply winning a hockey game. The same trust in the process, themselves and their commitment to achieving their ultimate goal - which has served as the foundation to their success to this point - is what the group intends to rely on come puck drop.
That and the motivation alone that all of the training, the hours of work, blood, sweat, sacrifice and the dream of someday hoisting the Stanley Cup, comes down to this.
"Sometimes on the road, you play a little more simple," Andrew Cogliano said on Sunday morning ahead of Game 6. "You play more of a checking game. You execute what the game plan is and there aren't as many distractions. It's come from our leaders. We've had a central focus all of playoffs and we have a bunch of good soldiers that follow through with it. It's a series against a really good team, a championship team. At the end of the day, we'll battle, scratch and claw like they are. Tonight, we'll come out and we'll play our game that we've played all playoffs."