The juggernauts are still that. Juggernauts.
The Tampa Bay Lightning have won their 11th straight Stanley Cup playoff series, erasing a 2-0 series deficit early on to advance to the final for the third straight year.
Call it Deja vu, call it dynasty. Tampa Bay is continuing to write history as the most dominant team in the salary cap era, with a chance to become the first three-time defending champion since the New York Islanders in the early 1980s.
It wasn’t easy, playing a handful of tight games against a determined, yet young Rangers team that will factor into the Stanley Cup conversation for years to come. The Lightning needed four perfect games in a row to overcome disaster, and they did.
But now, the real challenge begins: the Stanley Cup final against the Colorado Avalanche.
With all due respect to Dallas and Montreal, who had to overcome all the odds in unique circumstances to get to the final. But nobody pegged them to beat Tampa, and the Bolts ultimately rolled to their second and third Stanley Cups in franchise history.
But this? This is going to be much different.
The Avalanche are fresh off of a series sweep against Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl and have lost just two out of the team’s 14 playoff games overall. The Avalanche had more points in the regular season, and, thus, are juggernauts of their own.
This is Tampa Bay’s biggest challenge from the past three years. The Leafs pushed Tampa to the brink, but the Lightning slithered past in the end. Florida won the Presidents’ Trophy, but Tampa bad quick work of them. The Rangers nearly took a 3-0 series lead, but Steven Stamkos and Co. had other plans.
And they did it without Brayden Point, who is expected to return in the Cup final. The Lightning lost him early in Game 7 against Toronto, so they’ve gone a long way without one of their most dangerous goal-scorers.
The Bolts aren’t scared of what’s next. They’re not afraid of anyone. Not Auston Matthews, not Jonathan Huberdeau, not Igor Shesterkin. Nobody.
Not much seems to bother the calm, cool, collected Tampa Bay Lightning, and that’s why they’ve been so dominant no matter the obstacles sent their way over the past few years. No matter which star player is hurt, someone manages to step up in a big way.
Just think about all the incredible storylines we’ve had over the years. Stamkos scoring a huge goal in 2020 after missing most of the Cup final. Kucherov missing all of 2021 before putting on a dominant playoff performance — and yes, there were some funky circumstances. What about Andrei Vasilevskiy’s incredible six shutouts in an elimination game? There’s been turnover, but the hidden gems keep making their mark.
You don’t become a champion by accident. And the Bolts are as good as they come. Even if they don’t win a third, fourth or fifth title in a row, the fact they’ve stayed so competitive multiple years in a row with the success to go with it in the game’s most competitive era — and through all the challenges of COVID-19 — shows how special this dynasty truly is.
It’s easy to hate dominance in sports. But you have to appreciate just how hard a feat making the championship game three years in a row is. We might not see this for decades, or maybe the Avalanche become the next team to do it. It’s so hard to win the Stanley Cup — just ask Toronto, Vancouver, Buffalo or any of the teams that have either not won it 20-plus years or never at all.
The real battle is just beginning, but the journey there is special on its own.
