NHL-Tampa Bay beat Montreal to save Stanley Cup Reuters

Author: Frank Pinger

(Reuters)-The Tampa Bay Chargers defeated the visiting Montreal Canadiens 1-0 on Wednesday, becoming the third back-to-back Stanley Cup champion in the past quarter of a century.

The Chargers won the best record of seven games in the series with a score of 4-1 in front of the crowded arena and ended the magical run in Montreal. They are Canada’s latest hope to end the longest Stanley Cup drought in a hockey fanatic nation.

Since Montreal in 1993, no Canadian team has won the Cup.

Unlike last year, when Tampa Bay won the Cup without fans in the NHL biosafety bubble in Edmonton, they did not waste the opportunity to end the series in front of their noisy supporters.

“In order to do this in front of our fans and our families, we didn’t have the opportunity to do it last year,” said Lightning captain Steven Stamkos. “This is a huge motivation for this group.

“Compared with last year, it didn’t take away anything, but doing so again is just a verification of history. This team has done something that might happen to not many people.”

Tampa Bay scored the only goal of the game with less than 7 minutes left in the second quarter, when David Savard found rookie Rose Colton at the top of the crease and played in Montreal defender Ben. Kiarotte’s cue slipped a pass.

Since then, Andrei Vasilevskiy has stood high in the Tampa Bay Nets and completed 22 saves, including a crazy save at the last minute. This is his 2021 Out of the playoffs for the fifth time in the year, made the fourth save in the series.

Vasilievsky was surrounded by teammates when the final whistle sounded, was awarded the Conn Smythe trophy and became the most valuable player in the playoffs.

“The complete arena, incredible energy and another championship in Tampa,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bateman told more than 17,000 people before presenting the Stanley Cup to Stamkos. “It feels like everything is normal.”

The result ended an unexpected playoff game. Despite the injury, this upstart Montreal team overcame difficulties throughout the season. The COVID-19 outbreak and the lack of success in the regular season made them at the beginning of the playoffs in mid-May. Leading by 50 to 1.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted: “During these playoffs, you let us sit on the edge of our seats — we can’t wait to see you here again next year.”

“Tough Year”

Montreal relied on Carey Price’s popular goalkeeper to enter the Stanley Cup final in three rounds of the playoffs and was eliminated four times in the playoffs, but they lacked offensive blows to keep Cinderella’s vitality.

The Canadians pulled Price, who had blocked 29 shots, from the net at the last minute, so they could add an attacker on the ice, but the Chargers had a firm foothold.

Montreal captain Shea Weber said: “Obviously, this team has a lot of personality. It has encountered a lot of adversity this year, and we proved that many people are wrong.”

“During a difficult year, things were not normal. People united and worked hard. Obviously I will not change it for anything. I am very proud of these people.”

After falling 3-0 in the series, Montreal’s situation looked bleak. Among the 27 teams that had fallen 3-0 in the Stanley Cup final series, only the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1942 won the counterattack.

However, Montreal, which has a mix of youth and experience and players who seem to be loyal to each other, has never excluded itself.

“Everyone gave everything they had every night,” said Canadian forward Brendan Gallagher.

“If you look at our team, it is obvious that there are more talented teams, there are many teams that can do a lot of things, but no team is stronger as a team, and we show flexibility. Just an excellent team Be part of it.”