Cooper and McDonagh comment on Avalanche's controversial Game 4 overtime winning goal

On Wednesday night, the Colorado Avalanche were able to defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning in overtime thanks to a Nazem Kadri goal, and as a result have taken a commanding 3-1 series lead.

There was plenty of confusion at the time the goal was scored due to the fact that the puck was stuck behind the cross bar, leading many, including Kadri himself, to believe that Andrei Vasilevskiy had made the save. However, seconds later, it was determined the puck was indeed in the back of the net, and Kadri was swarmed by his teammates. While it seemed like a good goal at the time to everyone watching, controversy has since come from it.

Immediately after the game, Lightning head coach Jon Cooper told reporters that the game should still be going on, and that media and fans alike would see why shortly after. Sure enough, it was realized that the Avalanche may have gotten away with a too many men infraction, as Nathan MacKinnon was slow getting off the ice for Kadri, who scored mere seconds after his change. However, after having a night to digest it, it appears cooler heads have prevailed.

McDonagh deserves a ton of credit here for taking the high road, and in all honesty the correct one. While it can be argued that the Avs may have gotten away with a questionable change here, this exact play happens numerous times throughout any given game, and rarely, if ever, gets called. It's also worth mentioning that Cooper spoke with the media today and apologized for his odd press conference last night, and brought up the fact that emotions played a big part in what he said due to speaking so quickly after a loss.

Regardless of anyone's personal opinion of the result, the fact of the matter is it was ruled a goal and as such has the Avalanche just one win away from their first Stanley Cup since 2001. Though it is impossible to count out the Lightning who are back-to-back Cup champions, they are in a massive hole right now. Game 5 is set to take place on Friday night, and per Betway, the official betting partner of the NHL, the Avalanche are heavily favored at -155 while the Lightning currently sit at +250.

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