DENVER — The Avalanche aren't taking the bait.
Tensions are growing high in the Stanley Cup Final matchup between Colorado and the Tampa Bay Lightning, reaching a new height in Saturday night's blowout in Game 2.
But the Avs have made it clear they would rather focus on the game itself.
"We'll take the first punch in the face and get the power play and skate away," defenseman Erik Johnson said. "That's been our mindset -- we're not going to get sucked into that stuff, and we'll continue to not do that."
Tampa Bay's penalties provided four power-play opportunities for the Avalanche, who capitalized on two of them.
The first (Valeri Nichushkin) and last (Cale Makar) of Colorado's seven-goal scoring frenzy were delivered with a Lightning player in the penalty box.
"(We're) staying away from the things after the whistle, scrums, etc.," head coach Jared Bednar said.
"It's part of who we are. We don't feel like it needs to be part of our game, getting mixed up in all that stuff. Guys have done a good job staying out of it."
The Stanley Cup Final now shifts to Tampa Bay with Games 3 and 4 at Amalie Arena, beginning at 6 p.m. (MT) Monday night.
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