Colorado’s first Stanley Cup final in 21 (!) Years.
Then Gabriel Landeskog did just like the icon Joe Sakic.
The team captain stepped forward when needed most.
Gabriel Landeskog has had an absolutely fantastic play-off, and has been the cog that has carried Colorado all the way to the Stanley Cup final. Landeskog is the team captain, and a given leader both on the ice and in the locker room, and before the final he was hailed to the skies.
Stepped forward last night
His teammates said that Avalanche would not have gone to the final if it were not for Landeskog, and the icon Joe Sakic, now GM in Colorado, has lifted the Swede as the most important player in the team. And speaking of Joe Sakic…
He was the last player to score for Colorado in a Stanley Cup final. It was 2001, Colorado’s most recent final and Stanley Cup win, that Sakic scored the decisive goal for Colorado. But Sakic also scored the first goal in that final series, and it was therefore real with parables that were thrown out when Gabriel Landeskog stepped forward in the first SC final against Tampa Bay Lightning last night.
Exactly like Sakic
Landeskog – who not only helped with his hard work and physical play, but also with lots of points during the playoffs – opened the scoring in match one. The NHL’s official statistics account was not late in pointing out that Landeskog is following in Joe Sakic’s footsteps, as Sakic also as captain started the goal scorer in the series 21 years ago. Sakic, as I said, also scored the last goal in that series, and now many hope that Gabbe will repeat the feat.
Landeskog also had an assist in the match which ended 3-3 after three played periods. By extension, André Burakovsky decided the match with a quick shot, but it is Landeskog who pays tribute most after the first win. Experts and supporters are lyrical about how Landeskog stepped forward – again – when it was needed most. And they are convinced that there is no better leader in the entire NHL.
READ MORE: André Burakovsky decided the first Stanley Cup final last night – became a great overtime hero: “I have dreamed of it”