via the4 NHL PR department,

#NHLSTATS: GAME 1 IN THE STANLEY CUP FINAL

Tampa Bay is 1-3 in Game 1s during the Stanley Cup Final, while Colorado is 2-0. The winner of Game 1 in completed best-of-seven Stanley Cup Final series goes on to hoist the Cup 76% of the time (62-20). When teams win Game 1 in a best-of-seven Final at home, they win 83% of the series (49-10). When the victory comes on the road, the series win percentage is 57% (13-10).

Colorado in Game 1s of the Stanley Cup Final

* It has been more than 26 years since Colorado has surrendered a goal in the opening game of a Stanley Cup Final. Florida’s Tom Fitzgerald accounts for the only Game 1 goal against Colorado in the Final as he scored at 16:51 of the first period in the 1996 opener. The Avalanche responded with three goals in less than four minutes – with Adam Foote, the father of Lightning defenseman Cal Foote, on the ice for the first of those tallies – and used a 25-save effort by Patrick Roy to rally for a victory. Five years later, Roy made 25 saves yet again as Colorado started the 2001 Final with a 5-0 victory against the Devils at Pepsi Center (now Ball Arena).

Tampa Bay in Game 1s of the Stanley Cup Final

* The 2021 Final was the only time in four appearances that Tampa Bay scored more than one goal in the opening game of the championship series. The Lightning entered the third period of that contest with a 2-1 advantage and Nikita Kucherov contributed 2-1—3 in the third period as the club skated to their first 1-0 series lead in the Final. Brayden Point notched 0-3—3 that night, the most assists in a Stanley Cup Final game by a Lightning player.