The Colorado Avalanche protected home ice of the Stanley Cup Finals in Game 1, defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 in overtime. In a game that saw Colorado jump out to an early lead, only to blow the lead, Andre Burakovsky came to the rescue in overtime. He took a cross-ice feed from Valeri Nichushkin to beat Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy on a one-timer. The goal sent the crowd into a frenzy as Colorado took a 1-0 series lead.

One of the bigger surprises from the game was how poorly Vasilevskiy played. After the game, Avalanche goalie Darcy Kuemper talked about his counterpart in net.

“He's the best goalie in the world. I can't worry about trying to outplay him I just need to go out and play my game,” the Colorado net minder said.

Those are obviously the words you want to hear if you are an Avalanche fan. There's no reason to add fuel to the fire against the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions.

In the loss, the Lightning goalie had arguably one of the worst playoff games of his career. During the first period, Vasilevskiy allowed three goals for the first time in his playoff career. Just think about that for a moment.

Two of the goals would be considered soft by most hockey people. He was able to see both of them pretty clearly. One slid just over his left pad, and the other beat him 5-hole.

Over the last three postseasons, Vasilevskiy and the Lightning are 18-1. The only loss came last round in Game 2 against the New York Rangers. Colorado would be wise to bring the same energy and effort in Game 2 because you know Tampa Bay, and Vasilevskiy, likely will.