Tampa Bay Lightning won a second straight Stanley Cup title. See the highlights.
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Tampa Bay Lightning won a second straight Stanley Cup title. See the highlights.Phelan Ebenhack
Tampa Bay Lightning left wing Ross Colton reacts after scoring on Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price (31) during the second period in Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup finals, Wednesday, July 7, 2021, in Tampa, Fla.
Phelan EbenhackTampa Bay Lightning left wing Ross Colton reacts after scoring on Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price (31) during the second period in Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup finals, Wednesday, July 7, 2021, in Tampa, Fla.
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Tampa Bay Lightning won a second straight Stanley Cup title. See the highlights.Gerry Broome
Tampa Bay Lightning center Steven Stamkos, left, and center Anthony Cirelli (71) crowd left wing Ross Colton (79) after scoring on Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price during the second period in Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup finals, Wednesday, July 7, 2021, in Tampa, Fla.
Gerry BroomeTampa Bay Lightning center Steven Stamkos, left, and center Anthony Cirelli (71) crowd left wing Ross Colton (79) after scoring on Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price during the second period in Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup finals, Wednesday, July 7, 2021, in Tampa, Fla.
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Tampa Bay Lightning won a second straight Stanley Cup title. See the highlights.Phelan Ebenhack
Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman David Savard (58), center Steven Stamkos (91), and center Anthony Cirelli (71) crowd left wing Ross Colton (79) after his goal on Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price (31) during the second period in Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup finals, Wednesday, July 7, 2021, in Tampa, Fla.
Phelan EbenhackTampa Bay Lightning defenseman David Savard (58), center Steven Stamkos (91), and center Anthony Cirelli (71) crowd left wing Ross Colton (79) after his goal on Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price (31) during the second period in Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup finals, Wednesday, July 7, 2021, in Tampa, Fla.
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Tampa Bay Lightning won a second straight Stanley Cup title. See the highlights.Gerry Broome
Tampa Bay Lightning left wing Ross Colton (79) reacts after scoring on Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price during the second period in Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup finals, Wednesday, July 7, 2021, in Tampa, Fla.
Gerry BroomeTampa Bay Lightning left wing Ross Colton (79) reacts after scoring on Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price during the second period in Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup finals, Wednesday, July 7, 2021, in Tampa, Fla.
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Tampa Bay Lightning won a second straight Stanley Cup title. See the highlights.Gerry Broome
Montreal Canadiens defenseman Jeff Petry (26) checks Tampa Bay Lightning center Blake Coleman (20) next to Canadiens goaltender Carey Price (31) during the first period in Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup finals, Wednesday, July 7, 2021, in Tampa, Fla.
Gerry BroomeMontreal Canadiens defenseman Jeff Petry (26) checks Tampa Bay Lightning center Blake Coleman (20) next to Canadiens goaltender Carey Price (31) during the first period in Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup finals, Wednesday, July 7, 2021, in Tampa, Fla.
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Tampa Bay Lightning won a second straight Stanley Cup title. See the highlights.Gerry Broome
Tampa Bay Lightning center Brayden Point (21) controls the puck in front of Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price (31) during the first period in Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup finals, Wednesday, July 7, 2021, in Tampa, Fla.
Gerry BroomeTampa Bay Lightning center Brayden Point (21) controls the puck in front of Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price (31) during the first period in Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup finals, Wednesday, July 7, 2021, in Tampa, Fla.
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Tampa Bay Lightning won a second straight Stanley Cup title. See the highlights.Gerry Broome
Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price (31) stops a shot by Tampa Bay Lightning right wing Nikita Kucherov (86) during the first period in Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup finals, Wednesday, July 7, 2021, in Tampa, Fla.
Gerry BroomeMontreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price (31) stops a shot by Tampa Bay Lightning right wing Nikita Kucherov (86) during the first period in Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup finals, Wednesday, July 7, 2021, in Tampa, Fla.
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Tampa Bay Lightning won a second straight Stanley Cup title. See the highlights.Phelan Ebenhack
Montreal Canadiens center Eric Staal (21) and Tampa Bay Lightning center Brayden Point (21) reach for the puck next to Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (88) during the first period in Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup finals, Wednesday, July 7, 2021, in Tampa, Fla.
Phelan EbenhackMontreal Canadiens center Eric Staal (21) and Tampa Bay Lightning center Brayden Point (21) reach for the puck next to Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (88) during the first period in Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup finals, Wednesday, July 7, 2021, in Tampa, Fla.
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Tampa Bay Lightning won a second straight Stanley Cup title. See the highlights.Gerry Broome
Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, Lightning center Brayden Point (21) and Montreal Canadiens center Eric Staal (21) reach for the puck during the first period in Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup finals, Wednesday, July 7, 2021, in Tampa, Fla.
Gerry BroomeTampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, Lightning center Brayden Point (21) and Montreal Canadiens center Eric Staal (21) reach for the puck during the first period in Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup finals, Wednesday, July 7, 2021, in Tampa, Fla.
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Tampa Bay Lightning won a second straight Stanley Cup title. See the highlights.Ryan Remiorz
Montreal Canadiens fans gather to watch coverage of Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals between the Canadiens and the Tampa Bay Lightning, outside the Bell Centre in Montreal on Wednesday, July 7, 2021. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press via AP)
Ryan RemiorzMontreal Canadiens fans gather to watch coverage of Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals between the Canadiens and the Tampa Bay Lightning, outside the Bell Centre in Montreal on Wednesday, July 7, 2021. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press via AP)
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Tampa Bay Lightning won a second straight Stanley Cup title. See the highlights.Phelan Ebenhack
Montreal Canadiens center Nick Suzuki shoots during the third period in Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup finals against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Wednesday, July 7, 2021, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan Ebenhack)
Phelan EbenhackMontreal Canadiens center Nick Suzuki shoots during the third period in Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup finals against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Wednesday, July 7, 2021, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan Ebenhack)
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Tampa Bay Lightning won a second straight Stanley Cup title. See the highlights.Gerry Broome
Montreal Canadiens head coach Dominique Ducharme watches from the bench during the third period in Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup finals against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Wednesday, July 7, 2021, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)
Gerry BroomeMontreal Canadiens head coach Dominique Ducharme watches from the bench during the third period in Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup finals against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Wednesday, July 7, 2021, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)
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Tampa Bay Lightning won a second straight Stanley Cup title. See the highlights.Ryan Remiorz
Montreal Canadiens fans watch coverage of Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals between the Canadiens and the Tampa Bay Lightning, outside the Bell Centre in Montreal on Wednesday, July 7, 2021. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press via AP)
Ryan RemiorzMontreal Canadiens fans watch coverage of Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals between the Canadiens and the Tampa Bay Lightning, outside the Bell Centre in Montreal on Wednesday, July 7, 2021. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press via AP)
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Tampa Bay Lightning won a second straight Stanley Cup title. See the highlights.Ryan Remiorz
Montreal Canadiens fans watch coverage of Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals between the Canadiens and the Tampa Bay Lightning, outside the Bell Centre in Montreal on Wednesday, July 7, 2021. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press via AP)
Ryan RemiorzMontreal Canadiens fans watch coverage of Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals between the Canadiens and the Tampa Bay Lightning, outside the Bell Centre in Montreal on Wednesday, July 7, 2021. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press via AP)
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Tampa Bay Lightning won a second straight Stanley Cup title. See the highlights.Gerry Broome
Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh (27) reaches over Montreal Canadiens right wing Brendan Gallagher (11) for the puck during the third period in Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup finals, Wednesday, July 7, 2021, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)
Gerry BroomeTampa Bay Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh (27) reaches over Montreal Canadiens right wing Brendan Gallagher (11) for the puck during the third period in Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup finals, Wednesday, July 7, 2021, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)
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Tampa Bay Lightning won a second straight Stanley Cup title. See the highlights.Gerry Broome
The Tampa Bay Lightning celebrate their series win over the Montreal Canadiens to clinch the Stanley Cup in Game 5 of the NHL hockey finals, Wednesday, July 7, 2021, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)
Gerry BroomeThe Tampa Bay Lightning celebrate their series win over the Montreal Canadiens to clinch the Stanley Cup in Game 5 of the NHL hockey finals, Wednesday, July 7, 2021, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)
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Tampa Bay Lightning won a second straight Stanley Cup title. See the highlights.Phelan Ebenhack
The Montreal Canadiens watch as the Tampa Bay Lightning celebrate the series win in Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup finals, Wednesday, July 7, 2021, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan Ebenhack)
Phelan EbenhackThe Montreal Canadiens watch as the Tampa Bay Lightning celebrate the series win in Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup finals, Wednesday, July 7, 2021, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan Ebenhack)
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Tampa Bay Lightning won a second straight Stanley Cup title. See the highlights.Phelan Ebenhack
Tampa Bay Lightning left wing Ross Colton (79) celebrates with right wing Mathieu Joseph (7) after the Lighting defeated the Montreal Canadiens 1-0 in Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup finals, Wednesday, July 7, 2021, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan Ebenhack)
Phelan EbenhackTampa Bay Lightning left wing Ross Colton (79) celebrates with right wing Mathieu Joseph (7) after the Lighting defeated the Montreal Canadiens 1-0 in Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup finals, Wednesday, July 7, 2021, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan Ebenhack)
Tampa Bay Lightning won second straight Stanley Cup title, beating Montreal Canadiens 1-0 in Game 5.
When the Tampa Bay Lightning had their first chance to clinch the Stanley Cup championship in the 2020 playoff bubble, Jon Cooper recalls how he let his mind drift to what the celebration would be like.
“You’re thinking about raising the Stanley Cup, what’s it going to be like after, lifelong dreams, who’s going to get the drink out of it,” he said. “That’s called channeling your energy in the wrong direction.”
After missing their chance to sweep the Montreal Canadiens, Cooper and the Lightning were only steeled further by another dispiriting loss. In a familiar way, too: Motivated by just the latest aggravating defeat throughout the past two playoffs, the Lightning came back two nights later and won the Stanley Cup with a gritty, 1-0 win on Wednesday night.
It put an exclamation point on a second consecutive championship and third overall that was made possible by stumbles along the way. This extraordinary repeat, with each title coming in the midst of a pandemic, was filled with lessons learned.
Cooper said “it’s a journey” to win, and the mile markers along the way were losses: Game 5 of the final to Dallas 10 months ago before winning the Cup in six. Superstar Nikita Kucherov sitting out for the entire regular season after hip surgery. An overtime heartbreaker in the potential semifinal clincher against the New York Islanders. And then that OT loss in Montreal with the Cup in the building.
Backstopped by goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy posting another shutout in a clinching game and going undefeated after losses, Tampa Bay showed the resolve of a champion.
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