The Colorado Avalanche around Nico Sturm started with a win against the defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning. Stanley Cup finals can be held in Colorado, according to the statistics.
The ice hockey team from Denver scored 4: 3 in extra time in their own hall on Thursday night (June 16th, 2022). The Austrian-born Swede Andre Burakovsky made the decision in the second minute of overtime.
“It feels great”, said Burakovsky on US television. “We fought throughout the game. We lost mentally in the second period, but we came back.”
Nico Sturm, who was transferred from Minnesota Wild to Denver three months ago, is meanwhile the eighth German after the Stanley Cup. 26 years after Uwe Krupp, who won the title with Colorado in 1996, he could follow in his footsteps.
After Krupp, Dennis Seidenberg was successful with the Boston Bruins in 2011, Tom Kühnhackl in 2016 and 2017 with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philipp Grubauer in 2018 with the Washington Capitals. Olaf Kölzig, Christoph Schubert and Christian Ehrhoff, on the other hand, went away empty-handed.
Tampa Bay Lightning back in the game – and yet outnumbered
In front of their own fans in Denver, the Avalanche were 2-0 up after less than ten minutes and seemed to have everything under control. Artturi Lehkonen countered Nicholas Paul’s goal to make it 3-1.
Only 48 seconds in the second third were enough for the Lightning to equalize. Ondrej Palat with his ninth goal in these playoffs and Mikhail Sergachev shocked the hosts. Andrej Wassilewski in goal of the Lightning had a strong evening and parried several big chances. In the end he had 34 shots saved – but then he was powerless when Burakovsky scored after a counterattack.
Colorado Avalanche – who always cheer in the finals
Whenever the Avalanche have played for the Stanley Cup, the team has won the title and is now aiming for a third championship. The last title was in 2001.
After the 2020 and 2021 championships, the Lightning are in the finals for the third time in a row. That was last four decades ago. Overall, the Lightning are hoping for the fourth title in their history.