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TAMPA, Fla. — If the Colorado Avalanche thought they had the Tampa Bay Lightning on the ropes

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The Lightning pounded the Avalanche 6-2 in Game 3 at the Amalie Arena in Tampa. 

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It was a completely different Lightning team than the one that was blown out in Game 2 

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The puck dropped a little before 8:20 p.m. and both teams were off to the races as Tampa sought to prevent another early onslaught by the Avs. 

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Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy was up to an early challenge when the Avs got a shot with most of the net open on a rebound. 

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The Big Cat showed tremendous flexibility and push to keep the puck out of the net as the Avs squandered a golden opportunity. 

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Then just as the Tampa Bay crowd was settling in, Valeri Nichuskin easily beat Vasy when the Lightning failed to clear the puck out of the zone to give Colorado a 1-0 lead. 

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But, Tampa Bay challenged the goal saying Colorado was offside. 

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The video showed the puck cross across the blue line and Colorado was indeed offside which wiped the Avalanche goal off the board, making the game 0-0 again. 

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Tampa Bay was 0-6 up to this point in the Stanley Cup Final and nothing changed with this unit.