Tampa Bay Lightning win NHL's Stanley Cup for 2nd straight year
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.
Article continues belowThe Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
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.
