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The Tampa Bay Lightning won a second straight Stanley Cup championship on Wednesday following a 1-0 win over the Montreal Canadiens in Game 5. In doing so, Tampa Bay became the ninth team to win the Cup in consecutive seasons and the first since the Pittsburgh Penguins accomplished the feat in 2016 and 2017. This time around, the Lightning were able to celebrate in front of a roaring crowd, with their families and friends in attendance, rather than the Edmonton bubble.
The superb play of Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy was a common theme during both playoff runs that resulted in championship titles. He has posted a 14-0 record following a loss in the past two postseasons. The 26-year-old puck stopper turned aside all 22 shots he faced on Wednesday night to give him five straight series-clinching shutouts. Vasilevskiy registered five clean sheets during the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 1.90 goals-against average and .937 save percentage. He was rewarded with the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP for his efforts. Vasilevskiy is the first goalie to win the award since 2012 when it was claimed by Jonathan Quick of the Los Angeles Kings. He is also the first netminder born outside of North America to earn the Conn Smythe Trophy.
Ross Colton’s fourth goal of the playoffs was the Stanley Cup winner on Wednesday night. He had been filling on the second line of the Lightning alongside Steven Stamkos and Anthony Cirelli because of an injury to Alex Killorn. Killorn sat out the final four games of the Stanley Cup Final because of a broken fibula. He revealed that he had surgery last week to insert a rod and he hoped to play at some point in the series.[[ad:athena]]
Tampa Bay’s victory ended Montreal’s Cinderella run. The Canadiens deserve plenty of credit for advancing all the way to the Stanley Cup Final despite finishing with the worst record (24-21-11) among teams in the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Both teams are expected to be back in the Atlantic Division next season.
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The next big event on the NHL calendar will be the expansion draft for the Seattle Kraken, which is scheduled for July 21.
MONTREAL 0 TAMPA BAY 1 (Lightning win series 4-1 to claim the Stanley Cup)
Conn Smythe Trophy winner Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 22 shots in the shutout victory.
Ross Colton provided the only goal at the 13:27 mark of the second period when he redirected a pass from defenseman David Savard.
Ryan McDonagh had the other assist on the play. He also added seven hits in the match.
Ben Chiarot had a game-high nine hits in the contest, while Ondrej Palat was credited with eight.
Nikita Kucherov led the way with five shots on target on Wednesday. He finished first in scoring in the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs with 32 points (eight goals, 24 assists) in 23 games after he missed the entire 2020-21 regular season following hip surgery. He also led the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs in scoring with 34 points (seven goals, 27 assists) in 25 contests. He became the first player to lead the playoffs in scoring in back-to-back years since Mario Lemieux accomplished the feat in 1991 and 1992.
Pat Maroon also made some history with his third straight Stanley Cup. He is the fourth player to win the Cup in three or more consecutive seasons with two different teams.
Carey Price stopped 29 shots in the loss. He finished the postseason with a 13-9 record, a 2.28 goals-against average and .924 save percentage.
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