NHL: Tampa Bay Lightning beat Dallas Stars to lift Stanley Cup

Curtis McElhinney of the Tampa Bay Lightning skates with the Stanley Cup. Credit: Image - Getty; Video - Newshub.

Tampa Bay Lightning have won the National Hockey League's Stanley Cup for the second time in franchise history, with a 2-0 win over Dallas Stars.

Victory saw the Lightning, who won their maiden Stanley Cup in 2004, clinch the best-of-seven ice hockey championship series 4-2.

The entire Stanley Cup Final was held in Edmonton, one of two Canadian hub cities for the playoffs, to help limit travel and minimise COVID-19 risks.

Tampa Bay missed the chance to clinch the Cup after a double-overtime loss on Sunday, but would not let the opportunity slip away a second time.

The Lightning, who are 5-0 after a loss this postseason, punished Dallas for undisciplined play, with Brayden Point scoring on a powerplay, pounding home his own rebound for his 14th of the playoffs.

Outshot 11-4 in the opening period, the Stars were fortunate not to find themselves in a bigger hole, but fell 2-0 behind seven minutes into the second, when Blake Coleman blasted a one-timer by Dallas netminder Anton Khudobin.

After just eight shots through the first two periods, a desperate Dallas more than doubled that in the third frame, but could not put the puck past Andrei Vasilevskiy, who made 22 saves for his first playoff shutout.

Reuters

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