Avalanche Win Overtime Thriller in Game 1 vs Lightning

The Colorado Avalanche have struck first in the 2022 Stanley Cup Final.

It didn’t take long for the home team to show why it belongs in the NHL’s championship series. The Avs scored two goals in the first ten minutes of Game 1, kicked off by captain Gabriel Landeskog‘s goal.

Of course, the Tampa Bay Lightning were not about to let the Avalanche run away with things. The Bolts got on the board three minutes later to cut the lead in half. Forward Brayden Point returned from an injury and picked up a point on the goal.

Colorado, though, got another goal late in the period to take a 3-1 lead into the first intermission.

The Avalanche took Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final.

Tampa Bay showed its championship pedigree by notching two goals in period two to get things back to even. The comeback effort was highlighted by a beautiful assist from Nikita Kucherov.

The 3-3 game progressed through the final frame of regulation without a goal, propelling Game 1 to extra time.

Overtime lasted just over a minute before forward Andre Burakovsky buried the game-winning goal to give the Avalanche a 1-0 series lead.

This was an important win for the Avalanche, as any game in which they can get three or four pucks past Andrei Vasilevskiy needs to be a victory. Vasilevskiy is one of the best, if not the best goaltender in the NHL, but this was a strong first showing for the Avs.

It is also encouraging to see Colorado bounce back after allowing Tampa Bay to tie the game. We know that the Bolts have the mental toughness necessary to earn tough wins, so for the Avs, it’s important that they were the ones to do that in Game 1.

The Avalanche now own a 13-2 record this postseason and will look to improve upon that mark in Game 2 on Saturday night.