Lightning repeat as Cup champs
Vasilevskiy wins Conn Smythe Trophy as NHL playoff MVP
TAMPA, Florida, July 8, (AP): Quieting the din inside Amalie Arena for just a moment, Gary Bettman looked over to the Tampa Bay Lightning and reached back into the dark days of the pandemic perhaps one last time.
The NHL commissioner beckoned not just captain Steven Stamkos but the entire team over to touch, kiss and hoist the Stanley Cup as champions once more.
It was a familiar sight for the back-to-back champions, even if it was different in every possible way.
After the Lightning beat the Montreal Canadiens 1-0 on Wednesday night to end the final in five games, Stamkos hoisted the Cup in front of 18,110 fans — 18,110 more than the last time he did back in September.
Pyrotechnics went off around him to celebrate not only Tampa Bay winning during a pandemic once again but the end of another grueling season played against the backdrops of protocols, restrictions and heartbreak. As Stamkos took another lap with the Cup, players held up their phones to capture video of the fans, the confetti and the joy of being able to really, truly celebrate.
Vasilevskiy had a series-ending shutout for an NHL-record fifth consecutive time dating to the 2020 final. Finishing with a handful in a frantic final minute, he made 22 saves to remain undefeated in games after a loss over the past two playoffs, both of them won by Tampa Bay in the pandemic.
When Vasilevskiy was thrust into the 2015 Stanley Cup Final with starting goaltender Ben Bishop injured, he was a shy, unknown player at the beginning of his NHL journey.
Six years later, he’s a two-time Stanley Cup champion at the peak of his career after backstopping the Tampa Bay Lightning to a second consecutive title. Continuing to validate the organization’s faith in him, Vasilevskiy had a shutout in all four series clinchers, never lost backto-back games and won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.
So focused on raising the Cup again, Vasilevskiy didn’t even hear NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman call his name.
“It was a big surprise,” Vasilevskiy said. “I couldn’t believe it.” His five consecutive series-clinching shutouts dating to the 2020 final are a league record. After carrying the Lightning to another championship, Vasilevskiy sipped a sports drink leaning against the bench while his teammates celebrated — a much deserved breather while fans chanted, “Va-sy! Va-sy!” Despite teammate and Russian countryman Nikita Kucherov continually calling him the best and saying he’d be MVP, Vasilevskiy said - with the Conn Smythe Trophy next to him — “I still can be better.”
Ross Colton and David Savard weren’t around last year and made sure to put their stamp on Tampa Bay’s latest title run. Savard set up Colton’s goal midway through the second period past Canadiens stalwart Carey Price and the packed crowd roared.
“To do it in front of our fans and our families, it’s so special, special,” defenseman Victor Hedman said. “It’s out of this world.” The scene couldn’t have been any further from the mirthless, empty arena where the Lightning won the Cup last September in a quarantined bubble across the continent in Edmonton, Alberta. Tampa Bay joined Pittsburgh as the only back-to-back Cup winner in the salary cap era, but even more impressively did it in the shortest span between championships in the long history of the NHL.
How deep? Nikita Kucherov had 32 points to join Mario Lemieux as the only players to lead the postseason in scoring two years in a row, and Brayden Point scored 14 goals through three rounds. Kucherov, Point and Hedman all played through injuries, too.