It didn't matter.
"I was kind of nervous, too, had a little bit of problems sleeping last night," Burakovsky said. "… Couldn't wait to play the game."
The nerves didn't show.
Burakovsky made the most of his 12:34 of ice time on Wednesday, playing the role of hero when he scored at 1:23 of overtime to give the Avalanche a 4-3 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
His goal came shortly after the Avalanche failed to capitalize on the remainder of a power play they had as a result of Patrick Maroon shooting the puck over the glass at 18:36 of the third period. J.T. Compher intercepted a pass from Mikhail Sergachev in the neutral zone and skated in for an attempt on Andrei Vasilevskiy. The shot was blocked by Victor Hedman, but the rebound bounced out to Valeri Nichushkin, who passed across the slot to Burakovsky.
He buried the one-timer and was quickly mobbed by his teammates.
"'Val' got the puck back and made a great play to me, and it was up to me to shoot it," Burakovsky said. "Lucky it went in."
What was he thinking?
"I wasn't thinking too much," he said, chuckling. "It was a kind of crazy feeling."
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This is not the first time Burakovsky has been in this position. The forward won the Stanley Cup in 2018 with the Washington Capitals, one of only two Avalanche players to have done so, the other being Darren Helm with the Detroit Red Wings in 2008. Helm was also on the losing end of the 2009 Stanley Cup Final.
The other two Avalanche players who have played in the Final lost to the Lightning: Andrew Cogliano, who is currently injured, with the Dallas Stars in 2020, and Artturi Lehkonen last season with the Montreal Canadiens.
But Burakovsky has won. He has seen what it takes.
"I think maybe a little bit," he said, when asked if it matters. "I've been through it. I kind of know what to expect and the pace and what's at stake here."
He knows what it feels like to win. Until Wednesday, though, he did not know what it felt like to score in the Stanley Cup Final. In the five games against the Vegas Golden Knights in 2018, he had four assists.
"I thought he was solid, really solid tonight," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. "Managed the puck real well, didn't have any turnovers, checked hard, getting above pucks. He was skating well.
"And that's kind of what 'Burky' can do. Like, you put him in a spot, he can finish. He's a streaky scorer. When he gets opportunities, he can put the puck in the net. But all-around game for him tonight, I thought it was really strong."
It's something the Avalanche have seen from Burakovsky in practice, that shot that he used to devastating effect at the end of Game 1.
"He hides his release really well, and when he lets it go, he really slings it," Colorado defenseman Bowen Byram said. "He's a goal-scorer, and we've seen that a lot from him over the last couple years. We're just happy that he buried that one, and now we're moving on to Game 2."
