The NHL Playoffs now has Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final in the books.
Andre Burakovsky scored just 83 seconds into overtime for the Colorado Avalanche to defeat the Tampa Bay Lighting 4-3 on Wednesday at home. The goal stopped the Bolts rally as they came back from a 2-0 and 3-1 first period deficit.
“I wasn’t thinking too much,” Burakovsky said via NHL.com. “It was kind of a crazy feeling. Just great to be here in this Final and help the team win a game.”
NHL Playoffs: Avalanche 4 vs Lightning 3 (OT)
Gabriel Landeskog, who called it a “resilient win,” potted a goal and an assist along with Valeri Nichushkin in the victory. Artturi Lehkonen was the team’s other goal-scorer, while Mikko Rantanen picked up two helpers. Goaltender Darcy Kuemper did not have a lot of action and made just enough saves (20) to win.
Nick Paul got the rally started in the first period. His goal was followed by Ondrej Palat and Mikhail Sergachev in the middle stanza to tie it.
Tampa’s netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy had a rough start to the game allowing 3 goals on 15 shots. He ultimately was the reason it was close with 34 saves.
In the third period, the ice was tilted with the Avs showing their superior speed and skillset by outshooting the Bolts 12-5. That carried over into OT where Colorado made quick work of Tampa to grab a 1-0 series lead.
J.T Compher shot was was blocked but the rebound came right to Nichushkin, who quickly made a cross-ice feed to an open Burakovsky for the winner.
“There are some positives tonight for us in this game, but the right team won the game,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “Give them credit for pulling it out. We’ve got better in us, though. I don’t think by a country mile we gave our best game and we still had a chance to pull it out. But to beat a talented team like that we’ve got to bring a better game than this.”
NHL.com
The Lightning will look to even the series in Game 2 on Saturday night.
More must-reads: