Nazem Kadri writes unbelievable redemption story with controversial Game 4 OT winner

TAMPA, Fla. — Nazem Kadri was out of breath, fresh out of the dog pile of Colorado Avalanche players that surrounded him after a wild and weird celebration inside a pin-drop quiet Amalie Arena.

“Wow,” was all Kadri could muster postgame. “Rollercoaster of emotions.”

Wow was right. Kadri authored a story that even Disney would dismiss as too far-fetched. The guy who could barely shoot because of a mangled, surgically-repaired thumb and spent a chunk of the last 10 days unable to grip a stick, somehow managed to float a changeup over the best goaltender in the world in overtime in Game 4 on Wednesday night.

“Thinking I was done. Then having a sliver of hope. Stting here right now is kind of surreal,” Kadri explained. “I just was excited to join the team again and be in the dressing room. This is what I’ve been waiting for my whole life, so it was certainly exciting to be back in the lineup.”

Somewhere, Patrick Kane was nodding his head in approval after Kadri’s overtime winner had shades of Kane’s Stanley Cup-clinching goal in Philadelphia in 2010 that no one except Kane seemed to know was in the back of the net. Kadri skated away from the crease thinking he blew his chance, but the puck was tucked under the bar above Andrei Vasilevskiy.

Unlike Kane, the goal will not go down in history as a Cup clincher, but it might be pretty darn close. Because Lord Stanley’s silver chalice will be in Ball Arena in Denver on Friday night for Game 5. Colorado has the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Lightning on the ropes in a way they haven’t been in the last 12 series, the Bolts on the brink of elimination and down by two.

“You can’t make that stuff up,” Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog said. “You know he wasn’t going to go down easy. It’s an inspiration to everybody else to see a teammate like that try to come back and fight every day to try to get better and finally he’s back in lineup.”

Nathan MacKinnon called Kadri a “super resilient human being.”

The injury is just one small part of Kadri’s redemption tale. The one-time Toronto castoff had to prove he could stay on the ice this postseason after three season-ending suspensions in four years significantly damaged his reputation. It was ironic and unfortunate that what kept him off the ice to start the Final was that he was on the receiving end of a cross-check from Evander Kane in Round 3 that earned a one-game suspension.

Kadri went into the boards awkwardly. His thumb was twisted and required immediate surgery. The player who said he hated letting people down last spring suddenly found himself out of the lineup again – through no fault of his own. This was Kadri’s moment, after a breakthrough 87-point contract year, to finally make his mark on the postseason – and it seemed he had the rug ripped out from under him.

The initial prognosis was No. 91 would miss the remainder of the playoffs. There didn’t seem to be enough recovery time to allow Kadri to become an effective player in time for the biggest series of his life. He missed just four games. Every spring, there seems to be some modern medical miracle in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

“Timelines are moved up months, not weeks,” teammate Andrew Cogliano said, who was nursing his own hand injury to start the series.

After the game, an emotional Lightning coach Jon Cooper seemed to recognize the depth of Tampa Bay’s hole. They’ve fought valiantly, blocked shots and paid the price, but the truth is the Bolts have been overmatched for three of the first four games of the series.

Cooper took just one question, then walked out after saying that Kadri’s goal should have been disallowed but did not elaborate on why. The video replay indicated that the Avalanche had one too many men on the ice when Kadri scored, but it didn’t seem to have a significant impact on the play itself.

“You know, I’ve been part of some heartbreaking losses and defeats to the teams that took us out and been with a group that just fights, fights and fights. And they fought their way to a third Stanley Cup final in a row,” Cooper said. “I’m going to have to speak. I’ll speak with you tomorrow. You’re going to see what I mean when you see the winning goal. And my heart breaks for the players. Because we probably still should be playing.”

The NHL’s Hockey Operations department issued a statement following the game, saying none of the four on-ice officials – all of whom are eligible to make the too-many-men judgment call – saw such a situation. Too many men is a discretionary call and players are often given leeway when within five feet of the bench.

“In discussing the winning goal, each of the four officials advised that they did not see too many men on the ice situation on the play,” the Hockey Operations statement read. “This call is not subject to video review either by Hockey Ops or the on-ice officials.”

Kadri said he was confused as to why Cooper believed the goal should have been disallowed. Just par for the course for Kadri’s career, controversy surrounding the marquee moment of his career.

“I’m not really sure what he was thinking, why it shouldn’t have counted,” Kadri said. “That confuses me a little bit. The puck hit the back of the net. End of story.”

Those are best stories, the ones you wouldn’t believe if told.