The Tampa Bay Lightning are the Stanley Cup winners in a row after beating the Montreal Canadiens 1-0 in Game 5 on Wednesday evening.
They are the second team of the salary cap era to repeat themselves, joining the Pittsburgh Penguins 2016-17.
Blitz goalkeeper Andrei Vasilevskiy showed another strong comeback after a defeat with 22 saves and brought the city the third championship in less than a year. The Buccaneers won the Super Bowl in February.
With his fifth shutout, he won the Conn Smythe Trophy as a playoff MVP. If you include the 2020 Stanley Cup title, it has shutouts in five consecutive series clinchers.
The Lightning won their 2020 championship in a bubble setting in Edmonton last fall, but this time they got to party in front of their fans at the Amalie Arena. The Lightning are the first NHL team to claim a Stanley Cup title at home since the Chicago Blackhawks beat Tampa Bay in 2015.
A look at game 5:
Rookie results
Striker Ross Colton and defender David Savard were not part of the 2020 Lightning Championship.
But they scored at 13:27 of the second third for the only goal.
Savard took a pass from defender Ryan McDonagh, ran to the right face circle and fed a pass forward, which Colton tipped past Montreal goalkeeper Carey Price.
It was Colton’s fourth goal in the playoffs.
Colton was in the American Hockey League last season when the Lightning made their run. On the reporting date, Savard was taken over by the Columbus Blue Jackets with some clever salary cap maneuvers from Lightning managing director Julien BriseBois.
Vasilevskiy shines
Due to Vasilevskiy’s game, the Lightning did not lose any consecutive games in two consecutive postseason. He was 7-0 last season and 7-0 this season after a loss.
The Lightning played a strong defense in front of him in Game 5, but parried Montreal’s pressure in front of Colton’s goal.
He also stopped Montreal’s Josh Anderson and parried Brendan Gallagher in the third third.
Comments are closed.