The Tampa Bay Lightning are the 2020 Stanley Cup champions, defeating the Dallas Stars 2-Zero Monday to grab the NHL’s excessive trophy in entrance of empty seats, sprawling tarps, and no followers at Rogers Place.
Brayden Point and Blake Coleman scored the aims and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 22 images for his first occupation playoff shutout.
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The Lightning avid gamers exploded off the bench as a result of the seconds ticked to zero, swarming Vasilevskiy, their whoops and hollers echoing throughout the world.
The Lightning are the champions of the so-called bubbled NHL playoffs, with avid gamers saved in isolation for the earlier two months. Video video games have been carried out with out followers in attendance in hub cities of Edmonton and Toronto to forestall the unfold of COVID-19.
The Lightning gained the best-of-seven assortment 4-2 for the second championship throughout the 28-year-history of the franchise. The first cup acquired right here in 2004.
Vasilevskiy carried out all 25 post-season video video games for Tampa, along with 9 further time affairs. A kind of, in direction of the Columbus Blue Jackets throughout the first spherical, was a five-overtime marathon. His report was 18-7.
Tampa Bay outshot Dallas 29-22, and outshot them in every sport of the gathering.
Stage scored on the power play midway by the first interval, crusing by the slot untouched and inserting his private rebound earlier Dallas goalie Anton Khudobin.
Coleman made it 2-Zero by capitalizing on a turnover midway by the second physique, one-timing a cross-ice cross from Cedric Paquette.
Nikita Kucherov assisted on Stage’s goal and was the NHL’s excessive scorer throughout the playoffs with seven aims and 34 elements. Stage was second at 14 aims and 33 elements.
Khudobin finishes the playoffs with a 14-10 report.
The Lightning accomplished fourth throughout the frequent season (43-21-6) when play was suspended throughout the 70-game mark on March 12 because of COVID pandemic.
Tampa was a model of consistency throughout the return-to-play occasion that began in early August.
The Lightning went 18-7, on no account misplaced two video video games in a row, and shut down the best three defensive teams throughout the league (Boston, Dallas, and Columbus).
The Bolts have been further time warriors, going 7-2 in extra-session video video games. They carried out 221:14 complete in further time, better than any workers in playoff historic previous.
It’s the first Stanley Cup for every Lightning participant in addition to Pat Maroon. The burly, bearded veteran winger gained all of it closing season with the St. Louis Blues.
It’s moreover the first Cup for head coach Jon Cooper, in his seventh full season behind the bench for Tampa.
He defeated Dallas interim head coach Rick Bowness. Bowness had been employed by Cooper as a mentor in 2013 and served the next 5 years with the Lightning as his assistant.
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The Bolts had been knocking on the Cup door currently, making the last word Four in Four of the ultimate six seasons. In 2015 they misplaced to Chicago 4-2 throughout the final.
9 members of the current Tampa roster have been on that 2015 workers: Kucherov, captain Steven Stamkos, Victor Hedman, Ondrej Palat, Alex Killorn, Vasilevskiy, Braydon Coburn, Paquette, and Tyler Johnson.
The Stars franchise is now 1-4 throughout the Stanley Cup final, relationship once more to its Minnesota North Star roots. The lone championship acquired right here in 1999.
© 2020 The Canadian Press
