Can you say dynasty? The Tampa Bay Lighting are the first team to win the Stanley Cup at home since 2015 and join the NHL’s elite list of back-to-back champs.
What happened: The team won Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals Wednesday in front of 18,110 fans at Amalie Arena, beating the Montreal Canadians 1-0.
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Young Ross Colton scored the game’s only goal on a thread-the-needle pass from defenseman David Savard, who was the lone Lightning veteran without a Stanley Cup ring. No more.
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Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, who had a shutout in all four series clinchers and never lost back-to-back games, won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoffs MVP.
State of play: What do you call it when one region dominates in every professional sport? The signs on the edge of town that call Tampa the “City of Champions” always felt like a bit of a stretch. Now? Not so much.
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The Lightning join our Super Bowl LV-winning Bucs in the victory circle.
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Two big, serious questions: Can the Lombardi Trophy fit inside the Stanley Cup? Also, can the Stanley Cup be tossed across the Hillsborough River?
The big picture: Just 45 years ago, Tampa Bay had no major professional sports franchises. Think about that.
What’s next: The pressure is on the Rays to win the World Series. They Rays made the World Series last year, but couldn’t bring home a title.
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