Redemption: The Story of the 2019-20 Tampa Bay Lightning

    You don't see it very often. Not often do you see a team that was ousted in the first round of a playoff tournament as the top-seeded team of the tournament go on to win it all the next year. Last year, we saw it with the University of Virginia Men's Basketball team. This year, we have seen it with the Tampa Bay Lightning. But how did the Lightning get here?

The Sweep and the Offseason

    Back on April 16, 2019, the Lightning were eliminated from the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs in "The Sweep": Despite being heavy favorites to beat the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first round after tying the 1996 Detroit Red Wings for most wins in a regular season, with 62, the Blue Jackets would record their first ever playoff series win in a sweep over the Lightning. A crossroads would be reached: Would they stand pat or would they go on to fix glaring issues with the team?

    There was serious work to be done in the offseason. They would re-sign key depth pieces in defensemen Jan Rutta and Braydon Coburn, and forward Cedric Paquette, and would also re-sign their top prospect, forward Carter Verhaeghe. They would also trade forwards J. T. Miller and Ryan Callahan, the latter of the two having been retired from the professional hockey before having his contract being traded, for the purpose of freeing up cap space, as both of their contracts carry an average annual value of over $5M. They would also let go of defenseman Anton Stralman to free agency to save up more cap space.

    They would make free agency signings by bringing in forwards Patrick Maroon and Gemel Smith, the former of the two coming off of a Stanley Cup championship with the St. Louis Blues; defensemen Kevin Shattenkirk, Luke Schenn, and Luke Witkowski; and backup goaltender Curtis McElhinney. But they were all not the big fishes that they had to deal with in the offseason.

    First up was their All-Star goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy. The Vezina Trophy winner from the 2019 season was due for a large pay raise after completing the final year of his three-year contract he signed back in 2016. The Lightning would sign him to an eight-year extension at an average annual value of $9.5M. The other big fish they had to deal with was Brayden Point, one of their top forwards on the team. He would go unsigned through the first three rounds of the team's training camp before signing him to a three-year extension at a cap hit of $6.75M per year the day after they made the third round of training camp roster cuts. With these extensions, this means they would keep their franchise goalie and the key face of the team's future.

A Slow Start

    The first half of the regular season was not the greatest of all starts for the Lightning. They would sit at 17-13-4 on December 21st and outside of a playoff spot following a loss to the Washington Capitals that day. Their biggest loss during that span came on October 19th, when they lost 6-2 to the Colorado Avalanche. But that was not the worst loss since the Avalanche were one of the top teams in the league, and were expected to finish at that position. The worst loss during that span was a week before that, when they lost 4-2 to the Ottawa Senators - a team that wasn't expected to get out of the basement of the NHL.

    Although there were key wins. They beat the New Jersey Devils 7-6 in overtime on October 30th in a high-scoring affair. There were blowout victories as well, as they beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 7-3 on October 10th, the New York Rangers 9-3 on November 14th, the Anaheim Ducks 6-2 on November 23rd, and the San Jose Sharks 7-1 on December 7th. But despite those playoff victories, they were outside of a playoff spot. There were looming concerns facing them. Were they going to be a playoff team? Is their coaching good enough to lead the team to the playoffs?

When Lightning Strikes

    A 10-game win streak from December 23rd to January 11th would turn things around for the Lightning. They would play up to their potential as they would outscore their opponents 43-17 during that time span, and outscoring them 57-26 in their 12-1-1 run between the start of the 10-game win streak until the All-Star Break. The largest margin of victory they had in the win streak was by 7 goals, in a 9-2 win over the Canucks. They would score 5+ goals in the win streak in 5 games, which included the win over the Canucks, along with the 6-1, 5-4, 6-4, and 5-3 wins over the Florida Panthers, the Montreal Canadiens, the Sabres, and the Senators, respectively. The Lightning would sit at 29-15-4 and at 62 points heading into the Break.

    Two of their players would be named to the All-Star Game: Vasilevskiy and defenseman Victor Hedman. During the time of their selections, Hedman ranked third among defensemen for scoring with 37 points and 28 assists. On the other hand, Vasilevskiy hadn't lost in regulation since December 14th at the time of his selection, going 9-0-1 ever since, and posted back-to-back shutouts while not allowing a goal in a span of 145:55, carrying a record of 22-9-2, a .915 save percentage, and a 2.58 goals against average. He also was coming off of being named the 1st Star of the Week ending January 12th after wins in three straight starts with a 0.67 goals against average and .972 save percentage. Both made their 3rd All Star Game appearances in their careers.

    The Lightning would have another 10+ game win streak after the break, winning 11 straight from January 29th to February 17th, in a span where they went 12 games without losing in regulation, starting on January 27th to the end of the win streak, although this streak wasn't as high-scoring as the 10-game win streak. This time around, their largest margin of victory was by 3 goals, which was in a 3-0 win over the Sharks on February 1st. Three of the games in the win streak ended up in overtime victories: 2-1 wins over the Columbus Blue Jackets and Pittsburgh Penguins on back-to-back games on February 10th and 11th, and a 4-3 win over the Avalanche on February 17th. They also went to overtime on January 27th against the Dallas Stars, where they would lose 3-2. The most amount of goals they scored in a game during the win streak came on February 15th, where they scored 5 goals in a 5-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. Unlike the previous win streak, the Lightning would outscore their opponents by a margin of 40-22 during the 12-game span where they did not suffer a regulation loss. They would sit at 40-15-5 with the trade deadline looming closer.

The Trade Deadline and the Pause

    Despite the win streak, the Lightning still have flaws in their roster. They had 11 of their 12 forwards but they need another one to have a more complete roster. Defenseman Braydon Coburn has regressed significantly and had only 4 points in this season, as opposed to his 23 points in the previous season. He would constantly switch places with Jan Rutta for the 6th defenseman spot, although Rutta has not been that good either. Luke Schenn also isn't it. And as for the forwards, they would have Carter Verhaeghe, Mathieu Joseph, and Mitchell Stephens playing at least 30 games. These three are prospects, but they need to work on their game if they want to be successful in the NHL. So, the Lightning would make moves as the trade deadline comes in.

    First, on February 16th, they would trade prospect Nolan Foote and a 1st round pick to the Devils in exchange for forward Blake Coleman, who is a solid forward and also a physical presence. Speaking of physical presences, they would also sign defenseman Zach Bogosian on February 23rd, who, after being involved in trade rumors heading up to the deadline, was placed on waivers by the Sabres for the purpose of buying out his contract. And a day after the signing, the Lightning would make one more trade, sending prospect Anthony Greco to the Sharks in exchange for forward Barclay Goodrow, who is another physical presence. With the trades, the Lightning how have a solidified forward core and players who can play the speed, size, and skill games.

    The season would be paused on March 12th in the wake of Rudy Gobert of the NBA's Utah Jazz testing positive for COVID-19. At that time, the Lightning were 43-21-6, good for 92 points in the standings, 2nd place in the Atlantic Division, and 2nd place in the Eastern Conference, only behind the Boston Bruins, who finished 44-14-12 (100 points). What's worse for them is that they were without their captain, Steven Stamkos, for all of March, as he had core muscle surgery on March 2nd, and was projected to miss 6-8 weeks at that time.

Resumption of Play and the Round Robin

    The NHL would come to a resolution to resuming the season: The regular season would immediately conclude, and they would go straight to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. But instead of the traditional 16-team playoffs, they would have an expanded playoffs with 24 teams. Both conferences would have 12 teams each in the playoffs, with the top four seeded teams participating in a Round Robin, and the other eight teams would participating in a best-of-5 play-in series. Everything after the opening round would be the normal best-of-7 playoff series. Since the Lightning were 2nd in the Eastern Conference heading into the Playoffs, they would compete in the Round Robin with the Bruins, the Capitals, and the Flyers.

    As the Playoffs were coming closer, then came the news of Stamkos injured: A lower body injury that he suffered during a voluntary workout while in preparation for the Playoffs. There was not an indication on how severe the injury was, but the one thing that was certain is that he would not be a full participant in the Lightning's training camp before the Playoffs started. They also had to face the troubles of having three of their players and some of their staff members testing positive for COVID-19. Because of that, they would shut down their training facilities. It left the question on if the NHL's Return to Play plan would come into effect while preserving the health of the players, coaches, and staff members and those with whom they came in contact.

    The Return to Play plan would go as schedules, as the players and staff members that tested positive cleared all protocols. Without Stamkos, the Lightning would defeat the Capitals 3-2 in a shootout thanks to the heroics of Nikita Kucherov. They would go on to defeat the Bruins by the same score, this time in regulation, with Tyler Johnson's game-winning goal with 1:27 to go in regulation. However, they would lose to the Flyers 4-1 to finish 2nd in the Round Robin. Johnson scored the only goal for them against the Flyers.

Eastern Conference Quarterfinals: vs. Columbus Blue Jackets

    They would face a familiar foe in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals: The Columbus Blue Jackets. But this is not the same Blue Jackets team that they would be facing. The difference between the 2019 Blue Jackets and the 2020 Blue Jackets is the losses of three key players during the 2019 offseason: forwards Artemi Panarin and Matt Duchene, and goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. The Blue Jackets, despite being weaker offensively, still have their defensive stars in Zach Werenski and Seth Jones, a young centreman on the rise in Pierre-Luc Dubois, and a solid 1A-1B goaltender tandem in Joonas Korpisalo and Elvis Merzlikins. Even if they were without Merzlikins in Game 5 of their play-in series, they still managed to upset the Toronto Maple Leafs. Would the Blue Jackets pull off another upset or would the Lightning get their revenge for last year?

    It would be the latter case. The Lightning would get their revenge in five games this time around. They would take the first game in a quintuple-overtime thriller, as Point would score two goals including the winning goal, in what would be the 4th-longest game in NHL history, lasting 150:27 of playing time, and six hours and 13 minutes of total time. Four NHL records would be set in this game: Both teams combining for 151 shots, with 88 coming from the Lightning; Korpisalo recording 85 saves, and Jones playing 65:06 of ice time.

    The Blue Jackets took the second game, 3-1, off of a pair of assists from Dubois. Korpisalo stopped 36 saves, with the only goal allowed from the Lightning was one from Kucherov, to tie the game at one, although forward Oliver Bjorkstrand would break the tie on the power play late in the 1st period, and forward Alexander Wennberg added the insurance-marker in the 3rd.

    The Lightning would heavily outshoot the Blue Jackets in Game 3, 16-4 in the 2nd period, 10-3 in the 3rd, and 34-17 in total. Forward Alex Killorn scored the opening goal in the 1st period, and Point and Hedman would score in the 2nd period - Hedman's goal would be the eventual game-winner as the Lightning would hang on to win 3-2. They would also take Game 4, 2-1, off of goals from Goodrow and Gourde within the first five minutes of the 2nd period. They, along with Coleman, would each have an assist in Game 4, combining for five points.

    Game 5 proved to be the most competitive game of the series in terms of offense. The Lightning would score the first two goals, which came from Johnson and Coleman. Despite giving up four unanswered goals, they would respond to them, first with a goal from Shattenkirk with 8 minutes remaining in regulation to cut the Blue Jackets' lead to 4-3, and then a goal from forward Anthony Cirelli in the final two minutes to tie the game. The game would require overtime, but it would only last one overtime period this time around. Point would score his second overtime-winner of the series to clinch the series for the Lightning, and they would move on to the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

Eastern Conference Semifinals: vs. Boston Bruins

    Their next opponent would be the Bruins, who were dealing without starting goalie Tuukka Rask, as he opted out of the remainder of the playoffs for family reasons, so backup goalie Jaroslav Halak had to fill in for them. Despite Rask opting out, the Bruins were still able to eliminate the Carolina Hurricanes in five games. The last time the Lightning faced the Bruins was two years earlier, also in the East Semifinals, where the Lightning would win in five games.

    This series would also end in five games. Once again, in favor of the Lightning. And in the same order in which the games were won: The Bruins would take the first game, but the Lightning would win four straight afterwards. It was basically déjà vu, except that there were two overtime games that the Lightning won this time around.

    The Bruins took Game 1, 3-2, recording their 5th win in their past six games after going 0-3-0 in the round robin. Halak would record 35 saves for the Bruins, and their two All-Star wingers, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak, each had a goal and assist in the game. Hedman scored twice for the Lightning and Vasilevskiy recorded 28 saves. Both of Hedman's goals redirected off of Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy. But there would be a setback, as defenseman Ryan McDonagh left the game midway in the third period for undisclosed reasons.

    The loss of McDonagh would not affect the Lightning for the next four games, as they would win four straight to win the series. It started with a 4-3 win in overtime in Game 2. The game would go back-and-forth, with the Lightning responding to every Bruins goal. Marchand would tie it up at 3 with four minutes left in regulation, but forward Ondrej Palat would win the game for the Lightning, scoring 4:40 into overtime to tie the series at 1.

    Game 3 would not only be a big win, it would be a feasting. Absolute domination on all aspects of the game. Six Lightning players would have a multi-point game: Kucherov (4 points), Point (3 points), Killorn (3 points), defenseman Mikhail Sergachev (3 points), Palat (2 points), and Gourde (2 points). Seven different Lightning players would score a goal in this game. After the Lightning's fourth goal, Halak would be pulled from the game, as he allowed four goals in 16 shots.

    Palat's scoring streak would carry on to Game 4, as he would score his 3rd and 4th goal of the series in the 3-1 win - the first coming form a snap shot in the 1st period and the second coming from a one-timer from the high slot in the 2nd period. Hedman would add the insurance-marker with 28 seconds remaining on a five minute major penalty against Bruins forward Nick Ritchie.

    Game 5 would also be a back-and-forth game. It would be a scoreless 1st period, but Palat would get things up and running in the 2nd period with his 5th goal in 4 games. Pastrnak would answer on a Bruins power play. Two minutes past the halfway mark of the 3rd period, Cirelli would get the Lightning the lead. Bruins forward David Krejci would tie it up again five minutes later, with less than three minutes left in regulation. This would be the second game of the series going to overtime. The game would remain tied at 2 until Hedman scored the series-winning goal for the Lightning 14:10 into the 2nd overtime, and they would move on to the Eastern Conference Final for the 4th time in 6 years.

Eastern Conference Final: vs. New York Islanders

    The Stanley Cup Playoffs for the Eastern Conference would shift from Toronto to Edmonton, as Edmonton was the designated hub city for the Eastern and Western Conference Finals and the Stanley Cup Final.

    The team the Lightning would be facing in the East Final would be the New York Islanders, who made it back to the Conference Finals for the first time since 1993. The Islanders were making a surprise run in the playoffs as the 7th-seeded team in the Eastern Conference (technically they were the 6th seed after re-seeding following the Qualifying Round). They beat the 10th-seeded Florida Panthers in the best-of-5 Qualifying Round in 4 games, the Washington Capitals in the Conference Quarterfinals in 5 games, and held their ground against the Philadelphia Flyers in the deciding Game 7 of the Conference Semifinals after losing two straight. The last time the Lightning and the Islanders met in the playoffs was in the 2016 Eastern Conference Semifinals, where the Lightning won in 5 games.

    The series started out with a BANG for the Lightning: An 8-2 blowout win. Both Point and Kucherov each had five points in the win, with Point recording two goals and three assists, and Kucherov recording one goal and four assists. Gourde added two goals, Hedman had a goal and two assists, and Shattenkirk had three assists. Despite the outcome, nobody expected the Islanders to just roll over and die, as they had one of the best head coaches in the league in Barry Trotz.

    And yes, the Islanders would not roll over and die. It was a more competitive effort in Game 2. Forward Matt Martin scored below the goal line on the first shot of the game after receiving a pass from defenseman Nick Leddy to get the early lead for the Islanders. Late in the first period, Hedman would tie the game on a slap shot from the left point, aided by a screen from Goodrow. It would be the 4th straight game that Hedman would score a goal. There was no scoring in the 2nd period, but Killorn would be at the receiving end of a five-minute major and game misconduct for boarding Islanders forward Brock Nelson. Point would leave the game for undisclosed reasons later in the 2nd period. Without Point and Killorn, the Lightning would be down to nine forwards and seven defensemen. The Islanders missed out on a 5-on-3 power play opportunity in the 3rd period, which lasted 38 seconds. With nine seconds left in regulation, Kucherov would step up to be the hero for the Lightning. McDonagh, who returned in Game 1, found the star forward for a one-timer shot from the right faceoff circle to take Game 2, 2-1.

    The Islanders bounced back in Game 3 with a 5-3 win. Nelson, along with forwards Anthony Beauvillier and Jean-Gabriel Pageau each had a goal and an assist in the game for the Islanders, and forward Josh Bailey had two assists for them. After giving up leads of 1-0 and 3-1, Nelson would score the eventual game-winner for the Islanders, with Pageau scoring the empty net goal to seal the win to cut the Lightning's series lead to 2-1. Sergachev had a goal and assist for the Lightning, while Palat and Johnson scored the other two goals for them.

    Point made his return in Game 4, as the Lightning would score four unanswered goals after giving up the first goal of the game en route to winning 4-1. There would be three goals scored in the span of 27 seconds: After Nelson scored the first goal past the midway point of the 2nd period, Coleman would respond 15 seconds later to tie the game, and Palat would break the tie for the Lightning 12 seconds after Coleman's goal. Point and teammate Patrick Maroon would score the other two goals for the Lightning in the 3rd period. Palat and Point finished with a goal and assist each, while Gourde and Kucherov had two assists each as the Lightning would be one win away from the Stanley Cup Final.

    It would be a tightly contested game in Game 5. Defenseman Ryan Pulock scored on the one-timer past a screen form forward Anders Lee to give the Islanders the 1-0 lead on a power play opportunity. This would be their first power play goal since the 1st period of Game 1 of this series, as they failed on 13 straight chances. Hedman would tie the game at 1 exactly 4 minutes into the 2nd period off a rebound from Coleman. Carter Verhaeghe appeared to break the tie at the midway point of regulation for the Lightning, but Cedric Paquette was found to be offside after a coach's challenge from Trotz. The game would go to overtime, where the game would last a total of 92:30, making it the 4th-longest game in the conference finals since the format was adopted for the 1981-82 season. The Lightning won their previous two series in overtime in a Game 5, so would they do it again here? Well, the Islanders had other plans. Lee would send a pass under the stick of Sergachev to forward Jordan Eberle for a one-timer form the right faceoff circle in the 2nd overtime to force a Game 6. The Islanders shot the puck 24 times in this game, the fewest in any NHL game going to a 2nd overtime since 1967. This would be the first time the Lightning lost a game in overtime in the postseason; they were previously 4-0 in such games.

    Game 6 would also be tightly contested as well. Defenseman Devon Toews gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead on their first shot of the game a little over 4 minutes into the 1st period as he skated behind the net after receiving a pass from Lee to score on the wraparound. Hedman tied it roughly two minutes later on a rebound from the slot following a shot from defenseman Erik Cernak. This would be Hedman's 9th goal of the playoffs, tying Paul Coffey of the 1984-85 Edmonton Oilers for the most goals scored by a defenseman in a single postseason before the Stanley Cup Final, and the 6th time in 8 games that he would score a goal. It would also be the 5th straight game where the Islanders gave up a 1-0 lead. Including the 2nd overtime of Game 5, the Islanders had 7 straight periods where they recorded 6 or fewer shots on goal, before recording 9 in the 3rd period of this game. The two teams would go to overtime for the second consecutive game. Nelson had a chance to force a Game 7 while the Islanders were killing off a four-minute penalty: 2 minutes into the overtime period, he stole the puck from Johnson and skated on the breakaway, but Vasilevskiy made a big shoulder save to keep the game tied... until Cirelli scored the series-clinching goal for the Lightning 11 minutes later after taking a pass from Goodrow below the goal line, shooting off the left post before the puck hit the back of Semyon Varlamov's pad and crossing the goal line on the team's 48th shot of the game. With the win, the Lightning would be heading to their third Stanley Cup Final in franchise history. The Lightning would also be the first team to clinch their first three playoff series in overtime.

Stanley Cup Final: vs. Dallas Stars

    And now here they stand as the only Eastern Conference team remaining in the 2020 season. After the sweep last season, after the questions on if Point will remain with the team this season, after the rising concerns about Jon Cooper being unable to adjust his strategies after those playoff eliminations in the past two seasons, after the slow start to this season... here they are in the 2020 Stanley Cup Final with a chance to avenge last year.

    Their opponent would be the Stars, who were another team making a surprise playoff run. They finished with the 4th-best record in the Western Conference, but as the 3rd-seeded team in the West after finishing 1-2-0 in the round robin. On their way to the Finals, they knocked out the Calgary Flames in 6 games in the Conference Quarterfinals, with key victories coming from three come-from-behind wins, two of them being in overtime (Games 2 and 4), and the other in Game 6 where they scored 7 unanswered goals after going down 3-0. They held off the Avalanche in the Conference Semifinals, winning Game 7 thanks to a hat trick from rookie forward Joel Kiviranta after losing two straight games. And they would humble the top-seeded Vegas Golden Knights in 5 games in the Western Conference Final to make their first Stanley Cup Final appearance in 20 years.

    Not many thought that these two teams would be facing each other in the Stanley Cup Final. Of course, the NHL is full of surprises when it comes to the playoffs, but this Finals matchup was not one that many hockey fans had in their sights before the season. Many were thinking that the Lightning were going to disappoint in the playoffs once again based on how their previous two playoff appearances turned out. As for the Stars, they were the worst offensive team in the regular season that qualified for the playoffs. Both teams certainly brought a different type of intensity during their playoff runs. Stars backup goaltender Anton Khudobin stepped up in the absence of starter Ben Bishop, and their defense has kept up their phenomenal play from the regular season. They managed to stop high-scoring offenses in their first three best-of-7 series, and now the Stars would face their biggest challenge: A Lightning team hungry to win it all. Both teams would not want to go down without a fight, and are looking to win the biggest prize in all of hockey. They previously won a Stanley Cup before, although they won it off controversial calls. This time around, they would want to win it all without any controversy going in their favor...

    Game 1 would go to the Stars. Both teams combined for 9 shots in the 1st period, although each would score a goal in that period. Defenseman Joel Hanley became the first defenseman since Jim Paek in Game 6 of the 1991 Stanley Cup Final to score his first NHL goal in the Finals, and the 5th in NHL history. With this, the Lightning allowed the first goal for the 6th straight game. The Lightning would tie it at 1, when Gourde scored after the puck bounced off of his left skate and Stars forward Roope Hintz's right skate before going in the net. It would be all Stars from that point forward, with goasl from defenseman Jamie Oleksiak, Kiviranta, and an empty netter from forward Jason Dickinson. Khudobin made 35 saves in his team's win, including 22 in the 3rd period.

    The Lightning would score three goals in less than four minutes in the 1st period of Game 2 and held on to win 3-2. Among those three goals included power play goals from Point and Palat, with Kucherov getting the primary assist in both power play goals. The other goal came from Shattenkirk on even strength where his shot redirected off Stars defenseman Esa Lindell. The Lightning outshot the Stars 14-6 in the 1st period, but were outshot 18-5 in the 2nd period as they would give up a power play goal from forward Joe Pavelski on a net-front redirection off a shot from defenseman John Klingberg. Klingberg would get another primary assist on forward Mattias Janmark's goal, but the Lightning would outshoot the Stars 11-2 following that goal as they held on to tie the series at 1. With the win, the Lightning improved to 6-0 in this year's playoffs following a loss.

    Game 3 saw the return of Stamkos, who came back from injury for his first game back since February 25th. The Lightning would score the first two goals and never trailed, as they would go on to win 5-2. Kucherov, Hedman, Point, and Palat would finish with a goal and at least one assist (Hedman had two assists in this game), while Dickinson and teammate Miro Heiskanen would score for the Stars. Stamkos scored what would be his only goal on his only shot of the entire postseason, as he would total 2:47 of ice time while playing only five shifts on the ice, despite being on the bench for most of the 2nd period and all of the 3rd in this game.

    The Stars went out to an early 2-0 lead in Game 4, aided by goals from Klingberg and Pavelski. The Lightning would erase the Stars' lead by tying it up thanks to two goals from Point, one of which was coming on the power play. The game would be a back-and-forth one, as forward Corey Perry would break the tie to give a 3-2 lead for the Stars. But the Lightning would score two straight, with the goals coming from Gourde and Killorn, with Gourde's goal coming on the power play, to give the Lightning a 4-3 lead. Pavelski would score his second of the game to tie it up at 4 with 8 and a half minutes left in the 3rd period. No more goals would be scored in regulation, and the game would go to overtime. The game would finish with yet another power play goal from the Lightning, this one coming from Shattenkirk 6 and a half minutes into the overtime period. The Lightning improved to 6-1 in games where they went to overtime in this year's playoffs. It would also be the first time the Stars would lose in overtime in all of this postseason.

    Both teams would be exchanging leads in Game 5. Perry would open the scoring with just over two minutes left in the 1st period to grab the 1-0 lead for the Stars, scoring off a loose puck in the slot. The Lightning tied it 4 and a half minutes into the 2nd period, with Palat skating around Lindell, cutting in front of the net to tuck the puck past Khudobin. Sergachev would score on a one-timer from the left point 3 and a half minutes into the 3rd period to give the Lightning a 2-1 lead, but Pavelski would tie the game up 10 minutes later. With this goal, he would score his 61st career playoff goal, breaking Joe Mullen's record for most career playoff goals scored by a United States-born player. The game would not only go to overtime, but to double overtime, making it the first Stanley Cup Final game since Game 5 of the 2014 Stanley Cup Final to go to a double overtime. The Lightning would outshoot the Stars 7-2 in the first overtime, as the Stars did not have a shot on goal for the first 16:45 of overtime. Midway in the second overtime, after Vasilevskiy stopped a shot from forward Tyler Seguin, Perry would pick up the rebound and slid the puck in the net to keep the Stars alive in this series. It was his 4th goal in the past two games after not scoring in the previous 19.

    The Lightning, however, would improve to 7-0 following a loss in this postseason with a win in Game 6. And not only that, but they would also hold the Stars off the goal sheet for the entire game as Vasilevskiy stopped all 22 of the Stars' shots for his first and only shutout of the entire postseason. Out of the Lightning's 29 shots on goal, 2 would get in the net. The first goal came from Point on the power play as he would score his NHL-leading 14th goal of the postseason, putting in his own rebound 25 seconds into the power play. Coleman would score the other goal, as he would capitalize on a one-timer from the right faceoff circle to score on the team he grew up idolizing as a kid. The score would remain the same as the Lightning would kill off a Stars power play in the 3rd period to preserve the win and to clinch their second Stanley Cup title in franchise history. It would also be Patrick Maroon's second consecutive season where he would be on a Stanley Cup-winning team.

    The race for the Conn Smythe Trophy, given to the most valuable player of the postseason, was a very close one. But Hedman would finish as the Conn Smythe Trophy winner, finishing with 10 goals scored in the postseason, the 3rd-most by a defenseman in NHL history behind only Paul Coffey's 12 goals in 1985 and Brian Leetch's 11 goals in 1994. Point would finish as the runner-up, as he finished with an NHL-leading 14 goals in this postseason and with 33 points, which is 2nd in the NHL in this postseason behind Kucherov's 34 points.

Closing Point

    In the end, it was a happy ending for the Lightning. The playoff defeat from last season was avenged, and the intensity they brought into the playoffs led them to winning the hardest-fought championship in the NHL. Why is this? All the teams were in an even playing field with the bubble format, which actually hurts the Lightning, who would have had home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs unless if they faced the Bruins, Avalanche, or Blues. Besides, with the bubble format, since there were no fans in attendance, and since every team was playing in a neutral site, the term "home ice advantage" was practically meaningless. The Lightning also had to spend more than two months away from their home city, and their players couldn't even visit their families during the time frame as they were all in an enclosed area. Their training camp was even shut down because of several players and staff contracting COVID-19. They didn't even have Stamkos for all but 2:47 of their playoff run, and played a league-high 8 overtime games and 15 overtime periods, and that included the quintuple-overtime win over the Blue Jackets. In the end, a championship is a championship, and this one counts.