Stanley Cup Final June 15, 2022
AVALANCHE WITHSTAND LIGHTNING RALLY AFTER BURAKOVSKY SCORES IN OT
After Avalanche fans waited 21 years to cheer on their team in the Stanley Cup Final, captain Gabriel Landeskog (1-1—2) brought a raucous Ball Arena crowd to its feet with the first of three first-period goals only to have the Lightning storm back to tie the game. In the first-ever Stanley Cup Final overtime game in Denver, the home crowd left happy thanks to an Andre Burakovsky winner just 83 seconds into the extra frame – which he told ESPN was a childhood dream come true.
- Burakovsky, one of four Colorado players with previous experience in the championship series and one of two with a Stanley Cup (2018 w/ WSH), scored his first career goal in the Final. It was the earliest overtime goal in the championship series since 2011 when Canucks forward Alexandre Burrows tallied the winner 11 seconds into the fourth period during Game 2 against the Bruins.
- Colorado, which matched a franchise playoff record for longest win streak (6 GP), skated to its fourth overtime victory of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs (5 GP). This is the third time the club has posted at least four overtime wins in one playoff year; the Nordiques went 4-0 in 1985 and the Avalanche went 5-2 in 1996, clinching their first Stanley Cup with their last overtime win.
- Game 1 marked the 95th overtime game in Stanley Cup Final history and 20th in the series opener. Home teams improved to 42-50-3 in those contests overall and 8-11-1 in Game 1s.
LANDESKOG LEADS AVALANCHE IN HIGH-SCORING OPENING FRAME
Gabriel Landeskog scored the first of three Avalanche first-period goals as Colorado became the first team ever to score three times on Andrei Vasilevskiy in the opening frame of a playoff game. The Avalanche captain followed in the footsteps of current general manager Joe Sakic who also netted the 1-0 tally to open Colorado’s last Stanley Cup Final appearance in 2001 while wearing the “C” on his chest.
- The Avalanche became just the second home team in the past 39 years to score three or more times in the opening period of the Stanley Cup Final (also PIT in 2017: 3 in P1 vs. NSH).
LIGHTNING ATTEMPT A STANLEY CUP FINAL COMEBACK LAST SEEN IN 1994
The Lightning scored twice in a span of 48 seconds to overcome deficits of 2-0 and 3-1 and force overtime in Game 1. It was the 58th time a team at least tied a contest in the Final after trailing by multiple goals (second by the Lightning) and 14th time that happened in Game 1 (last: 2017).
- It has been 28 years since a road team overcame a multi-goal deficit to win a Stanley Cup Final game, with the Rangers last achieving the feat in Game 4 of the 1994 Final at Vancouver. However, the Lightning did stage a multi-goal comeback win as the designated road team while playing in the neutral-site bubble in Edmonton in 2020 (Game 4 vs. DAL – the only other time they tied a Final game after trailing by multiple goals).
- Nikita Kucherov notched a highlight-reel assist to set up the second Lightning goal and climb the list of career Stanley Cup Final points among active players. It was his 100th career playoff assist, team-leading 24th point of the 2022 postseason and 90th playoff point over the past three years.