Round 3 Takeaways: How the Lightning and Avalanche won their series

Throughout the entire postseason, we've been investigating how each series was won by detailing the one defining factor that ultimately put the winning club over the top. Those difference-makers have ranged from dominant individual performances by star players to specific stylistic things teams have done to exploit their opponent's biggest weakness. 

In the Conference Finals, the Colorado Avalanche proved to be way too much for the Edmonton Oilers to handle right from the very jump, whereas it took the Tampa Bay Lightning a couple of games to figure things out against the New York Rangers. Even though the two took different paths in getting there, it's hard to argue with the eventual destination we arrived at ahead of the Stanley Cup Final. 

Let's take a closer look at what they each did so well in the previous round, and what it figures to mean for the spirited heavyweight tilt that looms ahead.