Lightning's Jon Cooper Says 'the Right Team Won' After Game 1 Loss vs. Avalanche

Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper told reporters that "the right team won tonight" after the host Colorado Avalanche earned a 4-3 overtime win over the Bolts in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on Wednesday.

Colorado outshot Tampa Bay 38-23 and held a 3-1 first-period lead after Artturi Lehkonen's power-play goal at the 17:31 mark. However, Tampa Bay struck back with two second-period goals to tie the game at three.

Neither team scored in the third, but overtime lasted just 1:23 after Andre Burakovsky put home the game-winner.

Despite the tough loss, the head coach of the back-to-back defending Stanley Cup champions took away some positives.

To their credit, the Lightning got up from the mat after a rough opening 20 minutes and looked far better from that point forward. That's something Tampa Bay can take away as it looks to bounce back in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final on Saturday in Colorado.