![]() "Each guy," Stamkos said, "is a part of the process." Well, while they're not all on the same line, forwards Nick Paul, Corey Perry, and Brandon Hagel have done an admirable job replacing the Gourde trio. Remember the kind of impact third-liners Yanni Gourde, Barclay Goodrow, and Blake Coleman had on the club's 20 runs? "How could that value, the tangible and intangible, possibly be replaced?!" pundits bemoaned. Forget the incredible collection of raw talent among a group featuring Andrei Vasilevskiy, Nikita Kucherov, Victor Hedman, Brayden Point, and Stamkos, the real magic of this team - what makes it extraordinary - is how its core absorbs new role players year after year without missing a beat. If scholars are searching for the intersection of "skill mastery" and so-called "killer instinct," the Lightning dressing room would be a pretty good laboratory. We're witnessing one of the greatest runs in NHL history - full stop, no debate. Toss in complications associated with competing for championships amid a global pandemic, and the Lightning have arguably cemented their dynasty status ahead of the 2022 Final. The modern NHL, with 30-plus teams and a prohibitive salary cap, is designed for parity, not dominance. "I'm utterly impressed by what they do to win a hockey game," Cooper said.Ĭooper called making a third straight Cup Final an "unthinkable" accomplishment, and honestly, the sport's most quotable bench boss is bang on. They're highly adaptable and don't panic in gut-check situations. Pick a playing style and Tampa Bay's players will adjust and execute. And over the past 40 days, the Lightning outlasted the star-studded Toronto Maple Leafs in a seesaw seven-game series, held the high-octane Florida Panthers to three goals in a four-game sweep, and turned a 2-0 deficit versus the Rangers into dust by allowing just five goals in the final four games of Round 3. You know what happened next - back-to-back Cups in 20. Instead, the coach returned and the core - both its stars and complementary players - remained almost fully intact. They could have gone in a different direction. In 2019, owner Jeff Vinik and general manager Julien BriseBois had, as head coach Jon Cooper put it Saturday, "an easy out" after the Lightning were swept in the first round of the playoffs following a 62-win regular season. It's as if no level of pushback can kill their collective spirit. They've become the first team to earn a spot in three consecutive Stanley Cup Final series since the mid-1980s Edmonton Oilers in large part because they bend but don't break. There's something uniquely surgical about this Lightning group. "We deserved to win the game tonight, and that was the feeling that we had from puck drop to the intermissions - just keep going, our will is going to take over." "I was just confident in our group, that we'd find a way, whether it was in a regulation or it was in overtime," Stamkos told reporters following the thrilling Game 6 victory on home ice. The rest of the third was a mere formality. ![]() Moments after leaving the penalty box, Stamkos made it 2-1 to put the resilient Lightning in control again. Then Lightning captain Steven Stamkos took a penalty, and the Rangers' power play capitalized to even the score. Down 1-0 in an elimination game, New York looked tired and overmatched, having generated only a handful of quality scoring chances all night.Ī Lightning victory - and series win - seemed inevitable. The Tampa Bay Lightning had the New York Rangers right where they wanted them midway through the third period Saturday night.
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