Lightning Defeat Canadiens, Win 2nd Straight Stanley Cup

The Tampa Bay Lightning managed to score only one goal against the Montreal Canadiens in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals, but the goaltending of Andrei Vasilevskiy made it enough as the Lightning beat the Canadiens 1-0 in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals in Tampa on July 7th. With the victory, the Lightning took the series 4-1 and won their 2nd straight Stanley Cup.

Ross Colton scored the game winner. It was just 10 months ago that Tampa Bay beat the Dallas Stars to win the Cup. That was in the bubble in Edmonton in the wrap up to the Covid disrupted 2019-20 season. The 2020-21 season start was delayed, the scheduled shortened to 56 regular season games with temporary realigned divisions, and opened without fans, but at the end, the Lightning won the championship in front of a capacity crowd at home in Amalie Arena. Vasilevskiy won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Most Valuable Player in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He had a record of 16-7 with a .937 save percentage, 1.90 goals against average, and five shutouts.

At last word, the 2021-22 NHL season was tentatively set to begin on October 12th, with training camps beginning on September 22nd. The league will introduce its newest expansion team, the Seattle Kraken, next season. The expansion draft is set for July 21st.