One year after shocking upset, Tampa Bay Lightning capture Stanley Cup with Game 6 win against Stars
In April 2019, the Tampa Bay Lightning skated off the ice, victims of a stunning first-round sweep by the Columbus Blue Jackets after a 62-win season.
Monday, they stayed on the ice after the end of Game 6 to lift the Stanley Cup for the second time in franchise history.
A 2-0 victory against the Dallas Stars completed the redemption tour as the Lightning went 16-6 after the round robin to win the NHL championship for the first time since 2004.
"Sometimes in failure, you find success," Lightning coach Jon Cooper told Sportsnet after the game. "It doesn't come easy. People say you never know when you're going to go back. I truly believe it was the heartbreak we suffered that brought us here today."
Last season's shocker showed that skill alone was not enough to win a Cup, so general manager Julien BriseBois got busy, adding grit in forwards Pat Maroon and Barclay Goodrow and depth in forward Blake Coleman and defensemen Kevin Shattenkirk, Zach Bogosian and Luke Schenn.
That allowed them to get past the Blue Jackets, Boston Bruins, New York Islanders and Stars despite getting only five shifts from captain Steven Stamkos.
But in the end, the Lightning won a championship because their stars performed like stars this postseason.
A look at clinching Game 6:
Lightning's top line chips in again
Brayden Point gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead with a first-period power-play goal. It was his 14th goal of the postseason to give him the playoff lead.
Nikita Kucherov picked up his 27th assist on the play, which ranks fourth best all-time for a single playoff season. Only Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux were ahead of him.
Conn Smythe winner
Hedman, who edged Point in a close vote for playoff MVP, picked up an assist on the first goal to give him 22 points this postseason.
His 10 goals ranked third all-time among defensemen for a single playoff year.
"I thought about it a lot during the break about what I can improve in my game about shooting the puck, and some of them found the net," he told reporters. "At the end of the day, this is not my trophy, this is everyone's trophy."
He's the 11th defenseman to win the award and the first since the Chicago Blackhawks' Duncan Keith in 2015.
Newcomers chip in
Maroon picked off an Alexander Radulov pass in the second period and it led to a Coleman goal for a 2-0 lead.
It's the second year in a row that Maroon has helped end the Stars' season. He scored the double-overtime goal for the St. Louis Blues that knocked out the Stars in the second round of the 2019 playoffs.
Maroon won back-to-back Stanley Cups with different teams. The last person to do that: Cory Stillman (Tampa Bay, 2004, and Carolina, 2006, after the lockout-canceled season). The last to do it in back-to-back years: Claude Lemieux (New Jersey, 1995, and Colorado, 1996).
Vasilevskiy shines
Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy had a 3.82 goals-against average in the loss to the Blue Jackets. Monday, he made 22 saves to pick up his first shutout of the playoffs.
He was aided by a superb Lightning defensive game that limited the Stars to four shots in each of the first two periods, though he had to make a big save on Tyler Seguin in the third period.
"They executed their game plan pretty well," Stars defenseman John Klingberg said.
Vasilevskiy, last season's Vezina Trophy winner and a finalist this year, played every minute and gave up two or fewer goals 14 times this postseason. He becomes the second Russian starting goalie to win a Stanley Cup. The first was the Lightning's Nikolai Khabibulin in 2004.
Cup presentation
The Lightning, who spent more than two months away from their families, changed the postgame presentation ceremony by first posing around the Stanley Cup as a team.
Commissioner Gary Bettman presented the Cup to Stamkos, who was in uniform for the occasion.
He handed it first to Hedman, and the Lightning skated around the empty arena with the trophy.
Hedman said Stamkos "rallied the troops" after the Lightning's Game 5 double-overtime loss to the Stars.
"For him to do that says a lot about him not just as a leader but as a person," Hedman said. "He's the most unselfish person you'll meet. He's all about the team. There's a reason he's one of the best captains in the world."
Positives for Stars
Though the Stars were shut out in the final game, they had plenty of positives in the playoffs.
Miro Heiskanen led all defensemen with 26 points and Joe Pavelski set a record for career playoff goals for a U.S.-born player with 61. Goalie Anton Khudobin, normally a backup, shined in the absence of injured Ben Bishop. Joel Kiviranta and Denis Gurianov had big games in earlier rounds.
Seguin and captain Jamie Benn recorded no goals in the final round, though Seguin totaled five assists in Games 4 and 5.
“The emotions are tough right now," Seguin said. "I’m proud of this organization, all of these guys, the aces coming in when guys have been hurt, different guys stepping up at different times, going into that trainer’s room and having to wait in line to get in because everyone’s got ice bags on them.”
Lineup news
The Stars were down five regulars for the second game in a row: Bishop, Stephen Johns, Radek Faksa, Blake Comeau and Roope Hintz. The first three had yet to play in the series.
The Lightning brought back Bogosian, and forward Alexander Volkov made his first appearance of the playoffs. Defenseman Jan Rutta and forward Carter Verhaeghe sat out. Volkov's appearance means he can get his name engraved on the Stanley Cup.
Successful bubble
The NHL reported no positive COVID-19 tests for the ninth week in a row. The league said it has administered 33,174 tests to club personnel, including players, since teams entered the Toronto and Edmonton bubbles this summer.
Bettman, who usually hears boos during the Cup presentation, didn't this time because no fans were in the stands.