![]() ![]() Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise we got to do it front of our amazing fans.” “This is redemption for them to be able to spend this time with us. “We didn’t get a chance to do that last year,” Stamkos said. Tampa Bay’s mayor had suggested the Lightning lose Game 4 on the road so they could win at home, and she got her wish as coach Jon Cooper’s team became the first since Chicago in 2015 to hoist the Cup on home ice. The Tampa Bay Rays went to the World Series last fall. ![]() The Lightning also added another title for “Champa Bay,” with this title coming on the heels of Tom Brady leading the Buccaneers to a Super Bowl victory in February. The Lightning won the Cup for the third time in franchise history and denied Montreal a 25th league championship banner. The sunbelt franchise in a nontraditional market that didn’t even exist until 1992-93 went through the NHL’s most storied franchise to do it. It was just to much for the Canadiens, who relied again on Price to keep them in a game. Kucherov, Point and Hedman all played through injuries, too. How deep? Nikita Kucherov had 32 points to join Mario Lemieux as the only players to lead the postseason in scoring two years in a row, and Brayden Point scored 14 goals through three rounds. Never losing twice in a row thanks to a combination of Vasilevskiy’s brilliance and one of the deepest rosters constructed since the cap was implemented in 2005, the Lightning solidified their status as a modern-day dynasty. Tampa Bay joined Pittsburgh as the only back-to-back Cup winner in the salary-cap era, but even more impressively did it amid virus protocols with the shortest span between championships in the long history of the NHL. The scene couldn’t have been any further from the mirthless, empty arena where the Lightning won the Cup last September in a quarantined bubble across the continent in Edmonton, Alberta. “To do it in front of our fans and our families, it’s so special, special,” defenseman Victor Hedman said. Savard set up Colton’s goal midway through the second period past Canadiens stalwart Carey Price that fired up the crowd at Amalie Arena. Ross Colton and David Savard weren’t around last year and made sure to put their stamp on Tampa Bay’s latest title run. “This group, to go back to back after everything we went through last year in the bubble, to go through this year - ups and downs - it’s amazing,” Stamkos said. Finishing with a handful in a frantic final minute, he made 22 saves to remain undefeated in games after a loss over the past two playoffs, both contested during a deadly pandemic with the Lightning coming out on top each time. Playoff MVP Andrei Vasilevskiy had a series-ending shutout for an NHL-record fifth consecutive time dating to the 2020 final. Winning has become normal for the Lightning, who did so this time relying on their playoff MVP goaltender and the only two players on the ice without their names on hockey’s holy grail. “Full arena, incredible energy and another championship in Tampa,” Bettman said. Stamkos took another lap with the Cup, players held up their phones to capture video of the fans and confetti fell from the rafters. Pyrotechnics went off around him to celebrate not only Tampa Bay winning during a pandemic once again but the end of another grueling season played against the backdrops of protocols and restrictions. It was a familiar sight for the back-to-back champions, even if it was different in every possible way.Īfter the Lightning beat the Montreal Canadiens 1-0 on Wednesday night to end the final in five games, Stamkos hoisted the Cup in front of 18,110 fans - 18,110 more than the last time he did back in September.
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