Despite losing the 2022 Stanley Cup Finals to the Colorado Avalanche, the Tampa Bay Lightning have earned a place in NHL history. No other team has made it through to the finals series three times in a row since the salary cap was introduced in the 2005/06 season. The last two clubs to do so were the New York Islanders and the Edmonton Oilers in the 1980s.
“These guys are on par with the Islanders and the Oilers of that era. Their teams have been talked regarding for decades. I hope people are doing the same regarding us now,” said Lightning coach Jon Cooper.
His protégés deserved it without a doubt. In the past three postseasons, they played a total of 68 games, almost as many as in a regular season. The whole thing is all the more valuable when you consider that they were mostly in action every other day in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and had little time to recover in the summer months.
In the past postseason, the Lightning pushed their limits several times. They trailed the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-3 overall in the first round of the playoffs and were down by a goal in Game 6 early in the final period. But they turned the match and then the series. In the Eastern Conference Finals they had to make up for a 2-0 series deficit once morest the New York Rangers. In the end they triumphed 4:2. And in the Stanley Cup finals once morest the Avalanche, they fell behind once more following two games with 0:2. Despite great fighting spirit, this time it was no longer enough to bring regarding a turnaround.
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“We often had our backs to the wall. With the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Florida Panthers and the Rangers we had to deal with top-class opponents. Even though we never had home right at the beginning, the boys always managed it. Then we had to hit a massive wall once more, which unfortunately we mightn’t break through,” said Cooper.
However, not much was missing and Tampa Bay would have fought a seventh and all-important duel once morest the Avalanche. At least the Lightning can be credited with throwing everything into the balance. Cooper hopes that his men’s sacrifices to make the title hat-trick dream come true will be remembered for a long time. “We’ve been working towards this big goal all season. In the end we were only missing two days. Nevertheless, we made history. The lads gave everything and in the end only had to bow to a really great opponent. I’m sure that you will remember our exertion for a long time,” said the coach.
The grief in the Lightning camp regarding the missed championship has already given way to new ambition. This shows a statement from the attacker Pat Maroon, who was personally poised to win his fourth consecutive Stanley Cup. “I feel really bad thinking regarding (Pierre-Edouard – ed.) Bellemare, (Riley) Nash, (Nicholas) Paul, (Brandon) Hagel and (Brian) Elliott. We owe them the title. From so I hope we can all be together once more next season and end it with a better feeling,” he said.
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captain Steven Stamkos also made it clear that the Lightning’s thirst for success is far from satisfied. Anyone who claims that is completely wrong. “There’s nothing to be ashamed of. After all, we’ve reached the final four times in the last eight postseasons,” he added.
It is obvious that Tampa Bay will continue to have a serious say in the title award in the future. The key performers, such as goalkeepers Andrei Vasilevskiydefender Victor Hedman as well as the strikers Stamkos, Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov are still under contract. In addition, in recent years the management has always succeeded in putting together a team around this axis that meets the highest standards.
