It’s been a sad day for Tampa Bay.
The Blackhawks’ 2-0 Game 6 victory ended the Lightning’s valiant playoff run and the Stanley Cup Final last night in Chicago at the United Center. They played a record-tying 26 games this postseason — more games than most of players on the team have ever played in one season. This was the first three-game losing streak for the Bolts the entire season.
The Lightning had a few chances to score, but unfortunately came up short. Lightning captain Steven Stamkos had two close goal-scoring chances — once when he hit the crossbar, barley missing the goal and another time when he got stopped on a breakway. Stamkos was the team's leading goal-scorer during regular season, and made a first-rate effort in the Eastern Conference Finals, but couldn’t seem to break the walls of Chicago goalie Corey Crawford. Stamkos finished his season by going eight consecutive games without a goal. It was tough loss for him and the team.
“I felt sick for him,” said Coach Cooper, who reflected on how tough it was for Stamkos to accept, especially with so much on the line. ''You've got to feel for him because I know he's going to put a bunch of, probably, weight on his shoulders of why we didn't score, but Stammer did an unreal job for us. Nobody scored. It wasn't just Stammer. We've gone through this whole year, depth has carried us. Stammer clearly has been a big part of that. We needed more than Steven to score. The well ran dry.''
After last’s night loss, Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Ben Bishop’s announced that the mystery injury he suffered in Game 2 was a torn groin. He labored through Game 3, but was forced to sit Game 4 out and was replaced by 20-year-old Andrei Vasilevskiy. Bishop returned for Games 5 and 6, despite the obvious discomfort of the malady throughout the games.
Bishop wasn’t the only Bolts player with an injury. Centerman Tyler Johnson, who is part of the “Triplets” line, revealed that he was playing with a broken right wrist, suffered early in the Cup Final. Ouch. Johnson still led the NHL with 13 postseason goals, though only scoring one in the last 10 games.
Nikita Kucherov, also part of the league’s most dangerous “Triplets” line, left early in Game 5 with an upper-body injury and did not return to the game. After colliding with Chicago goaltender Corey Crawford, he violently hit the left goalpost. Kuherov suited up and played Game 6 and finished 2nd in he Stanley Cup playoffs with 10 goals and 22 points.
A close source, who was at a nearby hotel with the Stanley Cup, states the weather was so bad that they were driving through tornado warnings to get the cup into the city. The weather was so lousy it even caused the cancellation of the Chicago Cubs vs Cleveland Indians game. When it was time to leave for the arena, the weather continued to be problematic. Roads were flooded, causing a lot of closures and detours. Even with a police escort they were fashionably late getting to the rink. The Blackhawks spent the delay celebrating on the ice, while NBC filled the time with interviews.
Back home in Tampa, fans packed Amalie Arena to capacity to cheer on the Lightning from afar. The roar of the crowd was identical to that of a regular game night. The game was broadcast live on the arena’s humungous 28×50 foot video screens, providing a live-game feeling.
This is the third Stanley Cup the Chicago Blackhawks have won in the past 6 seasons, and the team's sixth cup in franchise history.
There is no reason not to be proud. Tampa Bay had a great season and a heck of a playoff run. They’re a young, fast, hungry team and should be proud of everything they’ve accomplished. They didn’t win the series, but by no means are they losers.
One hundred twenty-two years and 35 pounds of history is a lot less to hoist over your head than the weight of not being able to do it at all. Here’s to next year boys. Cheers.
This article appears in Jun 11-17, 2015.