The Tampa Bay Lightning are back-to-back Stanley Cup champions after defeating the Montreal Canadiens 1-0 in Game 5 on Wednesday night.
They are the second team of the salary cap era to repeat, joining the 2016-17 Pittsburgh Penguins, though salary cap issues could make some parts of the team look different next season.
Still, the Lightning will have top scorers in Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point and Steven Stamkos, a top defenseman in Victor Hedman and a great goaltender in Andrei Vasilevskiy.
“We’ve been knocking at the door for so many years, and now to be able to do it back-to-back, that kind of cements this group as special,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said.
Vasilevskiy had another strong bounce-back performance after a loss with a 22-save shutout to give the city its third championship in less than a year. The Buccaneers won the Super Bowl in February.
KUCHEROV:Star doesn’t hold back in press conference after Lightning win Stanley Cup