NHL Stanley Cup Final 2020: Stars vs. Lightning Result, Highlights, Top Comments

Paul Vernon/Associated Press

For the second time in franchise history, the Tampa Bay Lightning are the Stanley Cup champions. But this time, the celebration was much different from when they first won it in 2004, and from when other teams have won it throughout NHL history.

In a 2019-20 season like none before it, the Lightning ended the Stanley Cup Final with a 2-0 win over the Dallas Stars in Monday night’s Game 6 at Rogers Place in Edmonton. These teams had spent more than two months in a bubble due to the coronavirus pandemic, and there were no fans in attendance to celebrate Tampa Bay’s triumph on neutral ice.

It doesn’t change the fact, however, that the Lightning are now the champions.

“It’s the best moment of our hockey lives,” Tampa Bay defenseman Victor Hedman said, according to NHL.com’s Dan Rosen. “So many emotions. It’s going to take months for it to sink in, but we’re going to be champions forever, we’re going to be on that Cup forever. … It’s what you imagine all your life.”

Here’s a look back at this year’s Stanley Cup Final with results, highlights and top comments from Edmonton.

Stanley Cup Final Results

Game 1: Dallas won 4-1

Game 2: Tampa Bay won 3-2

Game 3: Tampa Bay won 5-2

Game 4: Tampa Bay won 5-4 (OT)

Game 5: Dallas won 3-2 (2OT)

Game 6: Tampa Bay won 2-0

Highlights, Top Comments

When the Stanley Cup Final started with a Dallas victory in Game 1, history was on the Stars’ side. Entering this year, the team that won Game 1 in the best-of-seven Stanley Cup Final went on to win the series 61 of 80 times.

But the Lightning were unbeatable coming off losses this postseason. They never lost consecutive games in the playoffs, going 7-0 after a loss, and they turned the momentum in the series with three straight victories in Games 2, 3 and 4.

One of the best moments during that stretch for Tampa Bay occurred in Game 3. Lightning center Steven Stamkos missed nearly the entire postseason due to injury. But he played 2 minutes, 47 seconds in Game 3, his lone playoff action, and during that brief time on the ice, Tampa Bay’s captain tallied a first-period goal:

“I just wanted to give myself a chance to help the boys out and I didn’t know if that was going to happen,” Stamkos said, according to NHL.com. “It was a really emotional past six weeks. Not only on the ice but off the ice dealing with some family stuff. I just wanted to say thank you to all my friends and family for all their love and support. Obviously so amazing to be part of this group. It’s just an unbelievable feeling.”

In addition to bounce-back wins, another trademark of the Lightning in the postseason was pulling out overtime victories. That started back in the first round, when they won a five-overtime marathon in Game 1 of their five-game series win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Tampa Bay went 7-2 in overtime games this postseason, which included a 5-4 win over Dallas in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final. If the Stars had won that game, they would have tied the series at 2-2. Instead, Kevin Shattenkirk’s power-play game-winner 6:34 into OT lifted the Lightning to the win and gave them a commanding 3-1 series lead:

Dallas staved off elimination with an impressive 3-2 double-overtime win in Game 5, but it never had a chance to win back-to-back games over Tampa Bay. The Lightning jumped out to the lead in Game 6 as center Brayden Point (NHL-high 14 goals this postseason) scored on a power play 12:23 into the first period:

That was more than enough offense for Tampa Bay’s defense and goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (22 saves), but it added another goal when center Blake Coleman scored 7:01 into the second period.

The Lightning’s defense continued to shut down the Stars from there, and they closed it out to secure the Stanley Cup.

“That last period was probably the longest period of my life,” said Hedman, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy, according to ESPN. “There’s so many emotions at the same time.”

Tampa Bay has been a top team in recent seasons despite not winning the Stanley Cup before this year. It reached the Stanley Cup Final in 2015 and lost in the Eastern Conference Final in 2016 and 2018. And of course, there was 2019, when the Lightning became the first No. 1 seed to get swept in four games by a No. 8 seed as they suffered a disappointing loss to the Blue Jackets in the first round.

This year, Tampa Bay came to the NHL bubble looking for revenge and to win the Stanley Cup. It got both, and now, one of the top teams of this era with its strong core, featuring Stamkos, Point, Hedman, Nikita Kucherov and more, get to celebrate a championship and enjoy the offseason.