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Three Stars
1. Andre Burakovsky, LW, Avalanche — Another night, another hero. The big Austrian sent a packed house home happy with a wrister that squeezed past Tampa Bay goalie Andre Vasilevskiy’s left and just inside the right post for the game-winner 83 seconds into overtime. Yet again, the Avs’ depth comes up big on the game’s biggest stage.
2. Andre Vasilevskiy, G, Lightning — The Avs rode the adrenaline of the home crowd early to blitz the Lightning’s all-world netminder, peppering the big Russian with three goals in the opening period. But Vasi, much to the chagrin of the Ball Arena faithful, settled in and settled down, stopping all 11 shots in the second period as the visitors clawed their way back into the game. Vasilevskiy seemed to have eyes everywhere during that stanza, swatting away a nifty Nathan MacKinnon backhand and stoning J.T. Compher on a breakaway with a well-timed poke of his stick.
3. Artturi Lehkonen, LW, Avalanche — Cale Makar might have the inside track for Conn Smythe honors, but Lehkonen, a trade-deadline acquisition from Montreal, has been almost as clutch these last six-seven weeks. He tipped Mikko Rantanen’s wrister past Vasilevskiy for the Avs’ third goal and led all Colorado skaters in blocked shots (three) and takeaways (three) through the game’s first two periods.
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