Tampa Bay Lightning win NHL's Stanley Cup for 2nd straight year

Tampa Bay Lightning
(Image credit: Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)

The Tampa Bay Lightning won Game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals, and the Stanley Cup, at Tampa's Amalie Arena on Wednesday night, beating the Montreal Canadiens 1-0. This is Tampa's second consecutive NHL title in 10 months. Ross Colton, who wasn't on the Lightning last season, scored the winning goal, while Tampa's MVP goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy had his NHL-record fifth consecutive series-ending shutout, making 22 saves in the game's final few minutes.

Tampa's second pandemic victory "feels like things are normal," said NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman.

Wednesday night's game ended Montreal's unlikely road to the finals, after starting the postseason with the worst record of all contenders. Before this year, the Canadiens hadn't made it to the Stanley Cup finals since winning the title in 1993. That was also the last season a Canadian team won professional hockey's championship.

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The Lightning, meanwhile, bolstered their city's "Champa Bay" streak, after the Buccaneers won the Super Bowl in February and the Tampa Bay Rays made it to the World Series last fall.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.