CROWN THEM CHAMPS
Lightning capture Stanley Cup title to cap two months in NHL bubble
EDMONTON, Alberta — The joyful yells from the bench could be heard in the empty arena in the final seconds, and the roar from players when commissioner Gary Bettman called for Steven Stamkos to accept the Stanley Cup echoed even louder.
The triumph of winning the NHL championship in a bubble was certainly no less sweet for the Lightning.
Brayden Point scored his playoff-best 14th goal, and the Lightning beat the Stars 2-0 on Monday to finish off the most unusual NHL postseason in history, staged nearly entirely in quarantine because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The clock hitting zeros with no fans in attendance set off a celebration for a team that endured years of playoff heartbreak and two months in isolation.
‘‘It takes a lot to be in a bubble for . . . whatever long it was,’’ said Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the playoffs. “But it’s all worth now. We’re coming home with the Cup.”
Before giving the trophy to Hedman, Bettman gave all the players credit for enduring a quarantine largely on their own for so long.
‘‘To be in this place at this time under it these circumstances is remarkable and, frankly, overwhelming,’’ Bettman said. ‘‘Frankly, all of the players who participated should feel like MVPs.’’
Goals from Point in the first period and Blake Coleman in the second and a 22-save shutout from Andrei Vasilevskiy in Game 6 were enough to power the Lightning to their second championship after winning it in 2004. That one came with the league on the verge of a labor stoppage, a lockout that wiped out an entire season. Similar uncertainty hangs in the air now because of the coronavirus.
Still, questions about the future temporarily were put off for a celebration by the Lightning and the NHL, the first of the four major North American pro sports leagues to crown a champion since the start of the pandemic.
“The beauty of our team is everyone was chipping in,” Point said. “We got contributions from anyone and everyone at different times, and that’s what makes this win so special.”