Alex Killorn admitted "emotions were high" as the Tampa Bay Lightning thrashed the Colorado Avalanche 5-0 to get back to winning ways.
The Avalanche beat the Lightning in last year's Stanley Cup, taking the series 4-2 to deny Tampa Bay a hat-trick of trophy triumphs.
That made Thursday's game one that Killorn and team-mates had been looking forward to for a long time, and they made it a night to remember.
Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy achieved his first shutout of the season, while Brandon Hagel managed two goals and an assist, with Corey Perry, Brayden Point and Mikhail Sergachev also netting.
Tampa Bay had lost to the Florida Panthers and Los Angeles Kings since the All-Star Game, so there was an imperative to get back to winning ways, and they did so in grand style.
Forward Killorn said: "Tonight we played very well. It's obviously a matchup we circled at the beginning of the year with what happened last year."
The teams play again next Tuesday in Denver, the second of four road games coming up for the Lightning, who must also face the Dallas Stars, Arizona Coyotes and Vegas Golden Knights before getting back to home ice.
"For us now going on the road that was a huge game to kind of start and get momentum going the right way," Killorn said.
"We've been on the other side of that for the past couple of years. And we realised teams kind of circle us. This has been the first time where we get a chance to play the team who beat us [in the Stanley Cup], so emotions were high for sure in this game.
"They're a great team. Tonight we just had a complete game, we were very aggressive, so we look forward to seeing them later in the playoffs."
Killorn was pleased for Vasilevskiy to avoid conceding, saying: "It's a little bit of a weight off his shoulders. He's obviously one of the best goalies in the league. For him, it's going to be huge momentum going forward, and I know he's happy about it."
Head coach Jon Cooper offered a different slant, suggesting that to his mind the game was not about last year's disappointment, but about building for the rest of this campaign.
"To be honest it had nothing really to do with Colorado," Cooper said. "What it had to do with was our previous two games.
"We're going on a tough four-game trip against some of the best teams in the west, and we couldn't go out losing three in a row after the break.
"It was entirely about us and not who we were playing. We needed an effort and they gave it tonight."