EDMONTON, Alberta (WFTS) – The Tampa Bay Lightning have completed their quest for the cup after beating the Dallas Stars in six games.
The Lightning clinched the franchise’s second Stanley Cup after beating the Stars 2-0 on Monday night.
The Lightning and the City of Tampa have announced plans to celebrate that involves both public and private events.
Stanley Cup Championship Celebration
- Tuesday, 5pm | Team Arrives home in Tampa
- Tuesday, 7pm | Private Team Celebration at Amalie - Watch Live Coverage Here
- Wednesday, 5pm | Boat Parade along Tampa Riverwalk
- Wednesday, 7:30pm | Stanley Cup Fan Celebration at Raymond James
Brayden Point scored his playoff-best 14th goal, and the Lightning beat the Dallas Stars to finish off the NHL playoffs staged in quarantine during the pandemic.
The clock hitting zeros in an empty arena set off a wild celebration for a group that endured years of playoff heartbreak and two months in isolation.
Goals from Point and Blake Coleman and a 22-save shutout by Andrei Vasilevskiy were enough to power the Lightning to their second championship in franchise history after winning it in 2004.
Tampa Bay suffered a heartbreaking Game 5 loss after failing to cling to a 3-2 lead early in the third period on Saturday.
The Lightning drew first blood in Game 6 after Brayden Point scored on his own rebound in the first period. Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov and Victor Hedman were credited with the assist in Point's goal.
Tampa Bay's Blake Coleman scored off assists from Cedric Paquette and Patrick Maroon to give the Lightning a 2-0 lead early in the second period.
Over the weekend, Tampa Bay's head coach Jon Cooper announced the Lightning will be without captain Steven Stamkos for the rest of the series.
Other than Game 3 on Wednesday, Stamkos has missed every game in the NHL bubble due to an injury. While he had his version of the 1988 Kirk Gibson's pinch-hit home run moment with a goal in the first period, Stamkos spent less than four minutes on ice during Tampa Bay's 5-2 win in Game 3.
SERIES SNAPSHOT
- Game 1: Stars 4, Lightning 1 Final.
- Game 2: Lightning 3, Stars 2 Final.
- Game 3: Lightning 5, Stars 2 Final.
- Game 4: Lightning 5, Stars 4 Final/OT.
- Game 5: Stars 3, Lightning 2 Final/2OT.
- Game 6: Lightning 2, Stars 0 Final
HOW THEY GOT HERE
The Lightning secured the second seed in the Eastern Conference bracket after finishing second to the Philadelphia Flyers in round-robin play. Tampa Bay beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, the team the Lightning got swept by in the first round of the 2019 playoffs, in five hard-fought games.
After exorcising their playoff demons against the Blue Jackets, the Lightning rode Ondrej Palat's hot hand and a game-winning goal in double overtime from Victor Hedman to take down the Boston Bruins in five games.
Tampa Bay survived a physical and bruising series against the New York Islanders after taking the series in six games to punch the team's ticket to the Stanley Cup Final.
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The Dallas Stars qualified for round-robin in the Edmonton bubble after finishing the regular season with the fourth-best record in the conference.
The Stars secured the No. 3 seed and beat the Calgary Flames in six games.
In the following round, Dallas jumped to a commanding 3-1 series lead before the Colorado Avalance came back and forced a Game 7. The Stars then dodged a major series collapse after beating the Avs 5-4 in overtime in the winner-take-all game.
Dallas then took the Western Conference title after beating the Vegas Golden Knights in five games.
