Andre Burakovsky Buries Game Winner, 4-3, In OT Against Lightning; Avalanche Take Stanley Cup Final Lead, 1-0

Colorado knows how to start a Stanley Cup series fast: winning every Game 1 matchup this postseason.

The Stanley Cup Finals proved no different as Colorado defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-3, in overtime to walk away with the series lead, 1-0, on Wednesday.

Colorado's offense was skating circles around Tampa's Andrei Vasilevskiy in the first period.

Avs captain Gabriel Landeskog secured the first goal of the game after Mikko Rantanen nearly snuck in a score. It was Rantanen's shot that Landeskog cleaned up for the lead. Valeri Nichushkin's score gave the Avs a 2-0 lead, and a 5-on-3 power play by the Avs later in the period was capped off with an Artturi Lehkonen goal, off an excellent assist by Rantanen.

The Avs showed furious on offense, ending the period up, 3-1.

Tampa got on the scoreboard with a goal from Nick Paul to dodge a goose egg.

In the second, a dish from Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov to Ondrej Palat put the Lightning a puck's throw away from a tie in the second. 3-2.

Forty-eight seconds later, the Lightning accomplished just that.

A side shot from Mikhail Sergachev bounced off steel to sneak past Colorado's Darcy Kuemper to tie up the contest. 3-3.

Colorado felt in control of the third, but the regulation clock gave out on both teams — sending Game 1 into overtime.

Vasilevskiy had a rough start but solidly rebounded in the Lightning's two-score comeback.

Andre Burakovsky made his return to the Finals with Colorado since his last appearance with the Caps in 2018. The 27-year-old Austrian made it a memorable return, burying the game-winning score past Vasilevskiy to wrap the extended period and give the Avs a thrilling victory.

Even with the 7,676-day hiatus since their last Finals hosted at home, the Avs didn't seem out of rhythm one bit.

Colorado leads the series at 1-0 and welcomes the Lightning back to Ball Arena for Game 2.

Follow along on Twitter: @AlejandroAveela