Tampa Bay Lightning wins the Stanley Cup, beating the Dallas Stars in six games in Edmonton

The Lightning pulled off a 2-0 win against the Dallas Stars in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals behind goals from Brayden Point and Blake Coleman, giving Tampa Bay its second championship in franchise history and first since 2004. Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy made 22 saves to record his first shutout of the postseason.

Tampa Bay defenseman Victor Hedman was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the postseason MVP after he scored 10 goals and added 12 assists in 25 playoff games while anchoring the Lightning blue line.

“It’s a dream; it’s so unrealistic,” Hedman said of finally winning the Stanley Cup. “It’s what you dream of when you play on the streets back home when you grow up, and it’s what you imagine all the time.”

Tampa Bay’s victory ended an unconventional Stanley Cup playoffs, which were contested more than three months later than normal and in protective bubbles in Edmonton and Toronto amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. After nearly two months playing in the NHL’s “hub cities,” away from family and friends and with no fans in the buildings, Tampa Bay and Dallas will finally get to go home.

But Tampa Bay will get to bring home the much-desired hardware that made it all worthwhile.

Injured captain Steven Stamkos was the first Lightning player to hoist the Cup on the ice after the game, appearing in full uniform after he was unavailable in the postseason for all but 2:47 of Game 3 of the finals, when he scored on his first shot.

Stamkos then passed the Cup to Hedman, and the tradition of players skating with the Cup and passing it down the entire roster continued. Stamkos said the choice to give the Cup to Hedman first was a no-brainer, describing the Conn Smythe winner as his “best friend on the team.”

“So many guys would do anything in the world to get the Stanley Cup,” Stamkos said. “It was amazing to be a part of this run and so special to be a part of this moment.”

Without their families there, Tampa Bay players took out their phones amid the celebration and FaceTimed loved ones so they, too, could take part in the experience.

“This is the best moment of our hockey lives,” Hedman said.

While Tampa Bay couldn’t close out the series on its first try in Game 5 on Saturday night, it knew it had another prime opportunity Monday, and it took advantage. Hedman described Game 6 as one of the team’s “most complete games ever played” in his 11 years with Tampa Bay.

The Lightning shut the door on the possibility of a Game 7 on Wednesday, even as Dallas made a late push and controlled play in the third period. The Stars had only eight shots on goal through two periods before peppering Vasilevskiy with 14 in the third.

Point opened the scoring for the Lightning at 12:23 of the first period when he scored off his own rebound on the power play. Stars goaltender Anton Khudobin misplayed Point’s initial shot, and no one stepped in front of Point to prevent his second attempt. Nikita Kucherov and Hedman recorded assists on the play.

It was Point’s 14th goal of the postseason, which set a Lightning record for a playoff year, breaking Tyler Johnson’s mark of 13 from the team’s run to the 2015 Stanley Cup finals. Point tallied five goals and three assists in his last five games.

“What makes this so special is everyone had their moment and everyone contributed to this win,” Point said.

Coleman made it 2-0 with a one-timer from the right faceoff circle at 7:01 of the second period. Cedric Paquette and Patrick Maroon recorded assists on the goal, Coleman’s fifth of the postseason.

With Stamkos unavailable, Point, Kucherov and Hedman were Conn Smythe contenders during Tampa Bay’s run.

Kucherov led the way for the Lightning with seven goals and 27 assists for an NHL-leading 34 points in the postseason.

Hedman was instrumental in the team’s success both on the blue line and offensively. Only Hall of Famers Paul Coffey (12 in 1985) and Brian Leetch (11 in 1994) have scored more goals in a postseason run among defensemen.

With those top players leading the charge, Tampa Bay’s season was all about redemption. Last year, the Lightning was far and away the top team in the league during the regular season but was shockingly swept in the first round of the playoffs by the Columbus Blue Jackets.

After the game Monday, when Tampa Bay Coach Jon Cooper was asked what made the Lightning ready to win, he responded simply with: “A heartbreak.”

While Tampa Bay could have made a major offseason shake-up after last season’s disappointment, it stuck to its veteran core and kept Coach Jon Cooper at the helm. It added defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk and Maroon, who is now a back-to-back champion after winning the Stanley Cup with St. Louis in 2019. At the trade deadline, Tampa Bay added Coleman and Barclay Goodrow, physical forwards who gave the Lightning critical depth.

Tampa Bay finished the truncated regular season with a 43-21-6 record, the second best in the Eastern Conference when play was halted in March because of the pandemic. The Lightning went 2-1-0 in round-robin play when games resumed in early August, then dispatched the Blue Jackets, Boston Bruins and New York Islanders to reach the finals.

“After what happened last year, there was definitely a chip on our shoulder,” Stamkos said.

After Dallas won Game 1, Tampa Bay took control of the series with three consecutive wins. Shattenkirk was the hero in Game 4 on Friday, scoring in overtime to put Tampa Bay on the verge of a championship. The Lightning appeared to have all the momentum heading into Saturday’s Game 5, but Corey Perry’s double-overtime winner for Dallas delayed the celebration.

Dallas was in the finals for the first time since 2000 after it won its only championship in 1999. The Stars knocked out the Calgary Flames, Colorado Avalanche and Vegas Golden Knights on their way to the finals, outlasting dangerous offensive teams with serious championship aspirations.

The Stars took an all-hands-on-deck approach to the playoffs, with unlikely heroes delivering in timely moments, but they couldn’t come through after falling behind Monday. Instead, Tampa Bay’s redemption story reached its final chapter, and the celebration began.

“We’re going to be Stanley Cup champs forever,” Hedman said. “Our kids, our grandkids, if they look at the Stanley Cup, they’re going to see our names.”

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