The Tampa Bay Lightning celebrated a second consecutive Stanley Cup victory in front of their own fans on Wednesday. Lightning beat the Montreal Canadiens 1-0 to wrap up the series 4-1.

Rookie Ross Colton’s strike on seven minutes of the opening period sealed the win and the series for Tampa Bay. Lightning are the first team to win back-to-back titles since 2016 and 2017 when the Pittsburgh Penguins were victorious.

Lightning make it back to back Stanley Cup victories

Back in September 2020 Lightning beat the Dallas Stars 4-2 in the series, with the finals held behind closed doors. The games were held in Edmonton Canada because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Tampa Bay’s victory ended Montreal’s hopes of a first Stanley Cup triumph since 1993. Lightning have also had to deal with a host of injuries to key players and a Covid-19 outbreak along the way to the finals.

Tampa hosted the opening game of the series back in the end of June. Lightning went into the final period with a slender 2-1 lead before three third period goals secured the win. A brace from Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos goal with two minutes remaining was enough for a comfortable win.

Goals win games

Game two also saw another home victory for Tampa Bay. Goals from Anthony Cirelli, Barclay Goodrow and Ondrej Palat gave Lightning a 2-0 series lead.

Canadiens were hoping for better luck on home ice in game three but ended up on the back of a 6-3 loss. Jan Rutta put Tampa into the lead within two minutes. Tyler Johnson grabbed a brace as Lightning edged each period with a single goal advantage.

Entering into game four, Montreal knew they had to produce a win otherwise the Cup would be staying with the Tampa Bay. On home ice Canadiens broke the deadlock through Josh Anderson. The holders tied the game when Goodrow levelled late into the second period.

Inside nine minutes of the final period Alexander Romanov restored Montreal’s lead. Pat Maroon drew Lightning level to send the game into overtime, before Anderson’s winner.

Tampa secure the trophy on home ice

It was down to game five back in Tampa Bay before they would be crowned Stanley Cup champions. Colton’s strike in the second period sent the crowd into wild jubilation as Lightning made it successive Stanley Cup wins. A feat that very few sides have ever achieved in its long and famous history.