Five years after socially distancing from the Prince of Wales Trophy and losing in the Stanley Cup Final, the Tampa Bay Lightning got their hands on and arms around it on Thursday.
Anthony Cirelli scored in overtime as Tampa Bay beat the New York Islanders 2-1 in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals to return to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2015, where they face the Dallas Stars.
Injured captain Steven Stamkos, who would not even stand near the trophy then out of superstition, walked on to the ice to accept it along with the Lightning’s entire traveling party.
Photo: AFP
“It didn’t work last time, so we tried obviously touching the trophy this year,” alternate captain Victor Hedman said. “That was a no-brainer for us. We’re not superstitious, but obviously didn’t touch it last time, so this year we did. That’s the end of it. We won one trophy and now we’re going for the next one.”
Stamkos, Hedman, Alex Killorn and Ryan McDonagh were the first players to shake deputy NHL commissioner Bill Daly’s hand. It mattered to the team’s leaders to have Stamkos there.
“We wanted all the team captains up there and wanted Steven a part of it,” McDonagh said. “He’s been a huge part of this run even without playing.”
Players and coaches screamed with joy after taking a team photograph with Daly. That came minutes after they streamed on to the ice to celebrate Cirelli’s goal 13 minutes, 18 seconds into overtime.
Tampa Bay ended each of their three series victories in overtime.
Only New York lasted more than five games, pushing the Lightning to their limits before their talented core got them into the final.
“We got close,” Islanders coach Barry Trotz said. “We could see the mountain top, but we couldn’t get to the mountain top.”
Now the Lightning are four wins from that mountain top. They can thank defenseman Hedman for scoring his ninth goal of the playoffs and Andrei Vasilveskiy for making 26 saves, while his teammates peppered Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov with 48 shots.
Also Cirelli, who scored the Lightning’s biggest goal in years.
“The emotions are so high,” Cirelli said. “We worked all year. Our goal is to be playing for the Stanley Cup. We’re here now. I think it’s every kid’s dream to be in this situation. I think we’re excited and we’re ready to go.”
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