Tampa Bay Lightning thrashes Colorado Avalanche 6-2 in game 3

• Lightning beats Avalanche to win their first game in the final.
• They played furiously till the very end.
• Game 4 will be played on Wednesday

The reigning champion Tampa Bay Lightning blasted back into Stanley Cup final contention on Monday with a 6-2 thrashing of the Colorado Avalanche for their first series victory.

In game three in Florida, after being humiliated 7-0 by the Avalanche on Saturday and falling behind 2-0 in the best-of-seven finals, the Lightning showed their determination to go down fighting despite their 2-0 deficit.

Read more: Colorado Avalanche wins 4-3 against Tampa Bay Lightning in Stanley Cup Final opener

“People can say whatever we want but we know what we have in our dressing room,” Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said after the win

“We knew coming back home we’d play well in front of our fans and that was a great comeback tonight.

“Colorado is a tough place to play — they come out strong and come out fast. But we can do that too. We’ve got a series now.”

In the first period, the Colorado Avalanche bombarded the Tampa Bay net, but Bolts goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy made several outstanding stops to deny the Avalanche.

After a lengthy review, Valeri Nichushkin’s deftly flicked shot from the right-wing finally beat Vasilevskiy, but the goal was disallowed for offside.

Read more: Tampa Bay Lightning advances to Stanley Cup Finals for third time

After eight minutes, however, Colorado took the lead through captain Gabriel Landeskog, the Swedish winger tapping in a rebound from close range.

In response, Tampa Bay mounted a valiant comeback, with Anthony Cirelli scoring the equalizer and Ondrej Palat scoring the game-winning goal after a smart give-and-go with Steven Stamkos.

Nicholas Paul then smacked in a first-time shot at the start of the second period to put the Lightning up 3-1. Despite Landeskog’s power-play goal for Colorado, Tampa Bay were just getting started.

With goals from Stamkos, Pat Maroon, and Corey Perry, the home team entered the final period with a 6-2 lead.

Read more: Tampa Bay Lightning aim for their third Stanley Cup in a row

The Avs’ Logan O’Connor and the Lightning’s Ross Colton engaged in a protracted brawl with less than two minutes remaining in the third period, as Colorado’s agitation reached a boiling point.

Both teams will play game 4 on Wednesday in Tampa Bay.