Stamkos was outstanding as he led the Lightning on the ice through his scoring and all-around play. Stamkos ends the playoffs with 11 goals and 19 points in 23 games, a truly outstanding effort.

With their backs against the wall trailing 3-1 in the best-of-seven series and the game in Colorado, the Lightning prevailed in a 3-2 win. Stamkos picked up his helper on Nikita Kucherov's power play goal in the second period. Stamkos has 10 goals and 18 points in 22 games thus far.

“It’s extremely tough to get to this position,” Stamkos said. “And then when your backs are against the wall at the end, it’s the toughest mountain to climb. There’s nothing to lose now. We’ve got to go out and have the game of our season next game. We know it’s going to be difficult. We know they’re a heck of a team over there, but we’re not going to quit. We’ve gone too far and guys have sacrificed so much to get to this position. So we’ll regroup here and go win a game on the road.” The Lightning are trying to become the first team to win three straight championships since the New York Islanders in the 1980s. After the Avalanche secured a 3-2 overtime victory on Wednesday, the Lightning have been must win Game 5 on Friday to stay in the series.

Stamkos set up Ondrej Palat to make it 2-1 Tampa Bay at the end of one period and then scored the fourth goal on a nice pass from Nikita Kucherov. The captain is having a fine post-season with 10 goals and 17 points in 20 games.