Tampa Bay Lighting are back-to-back Stanley Cup Champions.
On Wednesday, the defending champion Lightning defeated the Montreal Canadians 1-0 a in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final, securing their second consecutive title and third in franchise history.
Even though the defending champion’s four-game playoff winning streak came to an end Monday with the Canadiens 3-2 overtime win game 4The Lightning came back in a big way with a shutout to end the series.
Here are the best moments from Game 5:
The Lightning came out inflated and ready to go, as the crowd inside Amalie Arena erupted as they took to the ice.
And as soon as the puck dropped, the Bolts wasted no time getting physical with the Canadiens, headlocks and all.
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Tensions were high when the first period began. He was plagued by penalties and power plays from the start. Less than three minutes after regulation, right wing Corey Perry took the top bench seat for the Canadiens for hooking Mathieu Joseph, followed by a two-minute penalty for Jan Rutta for checking Artturi Lehkonen.
The Lightning made another push on a power play late in the first, but Joseph couldn’t connect with the net, and the first period ended scoreless. Montreal took four shots to the Rayo’s 13.
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Early in the second half, the Canadiens’ goalie hawksbill priceThe defensive efforts continued to dazzle, saving two shots, one from Nikita Kucherov and one from Pat Maroon, in the first five minutes.
Tampa Bay didn’t let up on the gas, though, and midway through the second, the Lightning took a 1-0 lead at the 6:33 mark when Ross Colton knocked down the scoreboard on a beautiful setup by David Savard.
It was Colton’s fourth playoff goal, tying Montreal’s Cole Caufield for the most goals among rookies this postseason and a Lightning record for the most by a rookie in a single postseason.
Leading by a goal going into the final period, the Lightning continued a strategy of being physical with Montreal, attacking the net early in the third.
They came perilously close to extending their lead in this explosion by Ondrej’s Palat …
…but once again, Price continued to make one big save after another for the Canadians.
As the minutes ticked by, the Canadians searched for their first goal of the night, but it never came. Instead, Josh Anderson, who scored the game-winner for Montreal in Game 4 on Monday, left the ice after a twisting collision with the Lightning’s goal post.
Montreal had no ace up its sleeve in Game 5 after narrowly avoiding a sweep on Monday, and as regulation expired, the Lightning stopped the Canadiens, 1-0.
This was the Lightning’s third trip to the Stanley Cup Final since 2015 and second win in two years, having won the title in 2020 in the NHL playoff bubble in Edmonton. But this time, Tampa Bay won the trophy in front of their home fans. Heading into Game 5, the Lighting were 15-2 this postseason when they scored first.
This is how the sports world reacted to the Bolts’ victory.
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