After being embarrassed in the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs after one of the most historic regular seasons in NHL history, the Tampa Bay Lightning's redemption story in 2020 is finally complete.
For the second time in franchise history, the Lightning are Stanley Cup champions after a 2-0 win over the Dallas Stars in Game 6 of the 2020 Stanley Cup Final in the Edmonton bubble.
Tampa Bay got the scoring started at the 12:23 mark of the first period as star center Brayden Point picked up his own rebound off an Anton Khudobin save on the power play and scored his playoff-leading 14th goal.
The Lightning added their second goal of the night just a little more than seven minutes into the second period as forward Blake Coleman capitalized on a feed from linemate Cedric Paquette for his fifth goal of the postseason.
From there, the Lightning continued to smother any scoring chance the Stars threw at them. Tampa Bay appeared to be the team with plenty of gas left in the tank as the game continued, attacking Dallas with their speed and aggression to dominate action on the ice.
Andrei Vasilevskiy was strong all night in goal for the Lightning, stopping all 22 shots he faced, 14 of which came in the third period, to earn his first-career postseason shutout.
The last Stanley Cup title for the Lightning came back in 2004 when they beat the Calgary Flames in seven games. Tampa Bay also appeared in the 2015 Stanley Cup Final, but came away just short of the title after losing to the Chicago Blackhawks in six games.
Just last season, Tampa Bay put up one of the best regular seasons the league has ever seen from a team. The 2018-19 Lightning squad ended the 82-game season with a 62-16-4 record with 128 points, earning them the Presidents' Trophy.
However, the Lightning were embarrassed from top-to-bottom in the opening round of the playoffs in a four-game sweep at the hands of the Columbus Blue Jackets. It was such an embarrassing loss, that the team tweeted its own statement after their Game 4 loss expressing their disappointment.
The 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs was about a chance for redemption for the Lightning, similar to the championship run for the University of Virginia Cavaliers in the 2019 NCAA men's basketball tournament.
In the 2018 NCAA Tournament, top-seeded Virginia was not just upset, but absolutely dominated by 16-seed University of Maryland, Baltimore County in the opening round, becoming the first No. 1 seed in the tournament to lose to a 16-seed in the tournament. However, the 2019 season saw the Cavaliers push their way to the National Championship game, where they defeated Texas Tech to win the program's first national title.
The Lightning were the highest-scoring team in the NHL during the regular season, averaging 3.47 goals per-game while averaging just 31.1 shots per-game. In the playoffs, Tampa Bay averaged 3.13 goals per-game to go along with an average of 35.4 shots per-game.
Leading the way in scoring for the Lightning this postseason was forward Nikita Kucherov, who put up a remarkable 34 points (7+27) in 25 games played. He finishes the playoffs just one point ahead of teammate Brayden Point, who led the Stanley Cup Playoffs with his 14 goals, while registering 19 assists for 33 points.
Vasilevskiy was outstanding in net for the Lightning for the entirety of the playoffs, going 18-7 in all 25 games played for Tampa Bay with a .927 save percentage and a 1.90 goals-against average.
Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman was the true star of the playoffs as he scored 10 goals from the blue line, while also picking up 12 assists for 22 points in 25 games. With his 10 goals, Hedman finished the playoffs with the third-most goals in NHL playoff history from a defenseman, behind Hall of Famers Brian Leetch and Paul Coffey.
The 29-year-old was named as the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as the NHL's Most Valuable Player of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Lightning began the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs finishing as the second-ranked team in the seeding round-robin tournament in the Eastern Conference.
They went on to exact revenge against the Blue Jackets in the opening round of the playoffs, which included a thrilling five-overtime win in Game 1 of the series and an overtime win to clinch the series in Game 5.
In the second round, the Lightning went on to beat the Presidents' Trophy winning Boston Bruins in five games, thanks to an overtime winner from Hedman in Game 5 of that series.
Finally, Tampa Bay punched its ticket to the 2020 Stanley Cup Final in Edmonton with a win over the New York Islanders in the Eastern Conference Final. It was Anthony Cirelli who ended up scoring the game-winning overtime goal in Game 6 to send the Lightning back to the Final. Tampa Bay became the first team in NHL history to advance in the playoffs with three series-clinching overtime goals.
LISTEN NOW on the RADIO.COM App
Follow RADIO.COM Sports
Twitter | Facebook I Instagram