Uwe Krupp ended one of the great goaltending duels of all time and clinched the Stanley Cup for the Colorado Avalanche in a four-game sweep of the Florida Panthers when he scored four minutes and 31 seconds into the third sudden-death overtime period, giving his team a 1-0 victory on Monday night.
Colorado's Patrick Roy and Florida's John Vanbiesbrouck put on a spectacular display of play-off goaltending in a pressure-packed game before Krupp finally put the puck behind the Panthers' goalie to give the Avalanche - formerly the Quebec Nordiques - the first Stanley Cup title in the franchise's history.
Krupp had missed all but six games during the regular season after tearing knee ligaments in the season's opener.
"I leaned into it and got real good juice on it and it just sort of found its way through," the exhausted player said of his winning shot. He will be the first German to have his name on the cup.
Krupp scored on the 119th goal attack of the match, setting off the celebration after the third longest game in Stanley Cup finals history.
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