2020 Stanley Cup Finals Explained

Winners:

Tampa Bay lightning

Year:

2020

Team1:

Dallas Stars

Team2:

Tampa Bay Lightning

Team1 1:

4

Team2 1:

1

Team1 2:

2

Team2 2:

3

Team1 3:

2

Team2 3:

5

Team1 4:

4*

Team2 4:

5*

Team1 5:

3**

Team2 5:

2**

Team1 6:

0

Team2 6:

2

Team1 Tot:

2

Team2 Tot:

4

Location1:

Edmonton

Rogers Place

Team1 Coach:

Rick Bowness (interim)

Team2 Coach:

Jon Cooper

Team1 Short:

Dallas

Team2 Short:

Tampa Bay

Team1 Captain:

Jamie Benn

Team2 Captain:

Steven Stamkos

Table-Note:

• – Denotes overtime period(s)

| referees =Francis Charron (1, 4)
Steve Kozari (2, 5)
Wes McCauley (1, 3, 6)
Dan O'Rourke (3, 5)
Kelly Sutherland (2, 4, 6)| dates = September 19–28, 2020| mvp = Victor Hedman (Lightning)| series_winner = Brayden Point (12:23, First, G6)| networks =Canada:
(English): CBC/Sportsnet
(French): TVA Sports
United States:
(English): NBC (1, 4–6), NBCSN (2–3)| net_announcers =(CBC/SN) Jim Hughson and Craig Simpson
(TVA) Felix Seguin and Patrick Lalime
(NBC/NBCSN) Mike Emrick, Eddie Olczyk, and Brian Boucher}}

The 2020 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 2019–20 season and the culmination of the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs. This series was between the Eastern Conference champion Tampa Bay Lightning and the Western Conference champion Dallas Stars. The Lightning won the best-of-seven series, four games to two, for their second championship in franchise history. The Lightning had home-ice advantage in the series with the better regular season record. The series began on September 19 and concluded on September 28. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the entire series was played behind closed doors at Rogers Place in Edmonton. The pandemic resulted in the league suspending the regular season on March 12, 2020, and then scheduling a special 24-team playoff format to be held in two neutral "hub cities" (Edmonton and Toronto) that began on August 1.^[1] Thus it became the first Stanley Cup Finals to be played in the month of September.

This was the first Stanley Cup Finals since to be played entirely outside the Eastern Time Zone, the first since to be played entirely in one location, the first since to be played entirely in Canada, and the first since to have the Stanley Cup awarded in a Canadian arena. This was the first Stanley Cup Finals since to feature a neutral site game and the first Stanley Cup Finals to feature two teams from the American Sun Belt (Texas and Florida).

The Dallas Stars set the record for most playoff games played by a team in a single postseason at 27 games.

Paths to the Finals

Return to play

See main article: 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 to be a pandemic, and later that day, the National Basketball Association suspended all games after players tested positive for the virus. One day later, the NHL announced that the 2019–20 season had been paused indefinitely.^[2] On May 22, the league and the NHLPA agreed on a basic framework to stage a 24-team playoff tournament behind closed doors, conducted in two neutral "hub" cities to help protect teams from the virus. The details of the plan were announced publicly on May 26. The seeds would be based on each club's points percentage when the season paused on March 12, effectively scrapping the remainder of the regular season. In the opening round of the 24-team playoff format, the top four teams in each conference played each other in a separate seeding round-robin to determine the seeding in the first round. The eight lower seeded teams in each conference played in the qualifying round, a best-of-five series to advance to the next round. The first round through to the finals remained as best-of-seven series.^[3] On July 10, along with the ratification of an extension to the collective bargaining agreement, the NHL and the NHLPA formally agreed to begin the playoffs on August 1 (concluding no later than early October), with games being hosted by Edmonton (Western Conference early rounds, conference finals, and Stanley Cup Finals) and Toronto (Eastern Conference early rounds).^{[4] [5]} U.S. cities were also considered, but were passed over after several U.S. states experienced a spike in COVID-19 cases in late June.^{[6] [7]}

Dallas Stars

See main article: 2019–20 Dallas Stars season. This was the franchise's fifth appearance in the finals. They won the Stanley Cup in 1999 before losing the finals in 2000. They also made two appearances as the Minnesota North Stars in 1981 and 1991.

During the offseason, Dallas signed forwards Corey Perry and Joe Pavelski as well as defenceman Andrej Sekera in free agency.^{[8] [9] [10]} The team also re-signed defenceman Taylor Fedun and forward Jason Dickinson.^{[11] [12]} The team made no trades during the regular season.

On December 10, 2019, head coach Jim Montgomery was dismissed due to "unprofessional conduct inconsistent with the core values and beliefs" of both the team and the league, and was replaced by Rick Bowness.^[13] Before joining the Stars organization, Bowness had served as associate coach with the Lightning from 2013 to 2018.^[14]

When the regular season was suspended on March 12, 2020, the Stars had a 37–24–8 record and a .594 points percentage to finish third in the Central Division and fourth in the Western Conference. After play resumed in the hubs, Dallas placed third in the round robin.^[15] The Stars then defeated the Calgary Flames in six games in the first round,^[16] the Colorado Avalanche in seven games in the second round,^[17] and the Vegas Golden Knights in five games in the Western Conference finals.^[18]

Tampa Bay Lightning

See main article: 2019–20 Tampa Bay Lightning season. This was the Tampa Bay Lightning's third appearance in the finals. They won the Stanley Cup in 2004 before losing the finals in 2015.

During the offseason, Backup goaltender Louis Domingue was dealt to the New Jersey Devils for a conditional seventh-round draft pick in 2021. Defenseman Anton Stralman left the team in free agency after five seasons and signed a three-year contract with the inne-state rival Florida Panthers. Right winger Ryan Callahan's career was effectively ended when he was diagnosed with a degenerative back disease.^[19] Defenseman Dan Girardi went unsigned over the summer and eventually announced his retirement from playing hockey effective immediately after his two-year contract he signed in 2017.^[20] To make up for these losses, Tampa Bay signed goaltender Curtis McElhinney, defencemen Luke Schenn, Luke Witkowski, and Kevin Shattenkirk, and forward Patrick Maroon during free agency.^{[21] [22] [23] [24] [25]} Tampa Bay also re-signed goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy and forwards Cedric Paquette and Brayden Point.^{[26] [27] [28]} During the regular season, the Lightning traded for forwards Blake Coleman and Barclay Goodrow.^{[29] [30]} They also signed Zach Bogosian whose contract had been terminated by the Buffalo Sabres during the season.^[31] During Phase 2 of the Return to Play plan, captain Steven Stamkos injured himself while skating, and subsequently missed the round robin and the first three rounds of the playoffs for the Lightning.^[32]

When the regular season was suspended on March 12, the Lightning had a 42–21–6 record and a .657 points percentage to finish second in both the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference. After play resumed in the hubs, Tampa Bay placed second in the round robin.^[33] The Lightning then defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first round, including winning game one of the series that became the fourth longest game in NHL history, and the Presidents' Trophy-winning Boston Bruins in the second round in five games respectively.^{[34] [35]} The Lightning then eliminated the New York Islanders in the Eastern Conference finals in six games.^[36]

Game summaries

Note: The numbers in parentheses represent each player's total goals or assists to that point of the entire playoffs.

Game one

In the first period of game one, neither team produced many shots, yet each scored a goal. The first goal came from Stars defenceman Joel Hanley who took an open pass from Roope Hintz. Tampa Bay equalized the score on left winger Yanni Gourde's skate deflection. In the second period, both teams produced more shots, however, Dallas was up by two at the end of the period. Jamie Oleksiak fired a wrist shot which rebounded back to him which he then shot it over Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy to make it 2–1. The Stars' third goal started in their own end with Esa Lindell passing to Joel Kiviranta. Kiviranta then skated through centre, firing a shot that was blocked, but picked up the rebound to put it past Vasilevskiy for a 3–1 lead. In the third period, the Stars played more defensively, putting up only two shots compared to the Lightning who fired twenty-two shots at Anton Khudobin. The Stars held their ground for the remaining 20 minutes, and Jason Dickinson's empty-net goal sealed a 4–1 victory for Dallas.^[37]

Scoring summary
Period	Team	Goal	Assist(s)	Time	Score
1st	DAL	Joel Hanley (1)	Roope Hintz (10)	05:40	1–0 DAL
	TBL	Yanni Gourde (6)	Blake Coleman (7), Barclay Goodrow (5)	12:32	1–1
2nd	DAL	Jamie Oleksiak (5)	Alexander Radulov (7), Miro Heiskanen (18)	12:30	2–1 DAL
	DAL	Joel Kiviranta (5)	Esa Lindell (6), John Klingberg (14)	19:32	3–1 DAL
3rd	DAL	Jason Dickinson (1) – en	Blake Comeau (5), Mattias Janmark (6)	18:42	4–1 DAL
Penalty summary
Period	Team	Player	Penalty	Time	PIM
1st	TBL	Patrick Maroon	Roughing	08:08	2:00
	DAL	Jamie Oleksiak	Roughing	08:08	2:00
2nd	TBL	Blake Coleman	Slashing	01:09	2:00
	TBL	Blake Coleman	Hooking	06:54	2:00
	TBL	Patrick Maroon	Misconduct	20:00	10:00
3rd	DAL	John Klingberg	Hooking	04:52	2:00
	DAL	Blake Comeau	Delay of game (puck over glass)	09:08	2:00
	DAL	Tyler Seguin	Tripping	12:56	2:00

Shots by period
Team	1	2	3	Total
	5	13	2	20
	4	10	= style="text-align:center;"	22	36

Game two

In game two, the Lightning struck three times in the first period. Twice on the power-play, Victor Hedman and Nikita Kucherov set up both goal-scorers. The first came from a tic-tac-toe pass to Brayden Point firing it past Stars goalie Anton Khudobin. The second goal was another set-up pass; this time Kucherov fed it through the middle where Ondrej Palat made it 2–0. The Lightning made it 3–0 when the Stars fumbled the puck in their own zone and Anthony Cirelli gave it to Kevin Shattenkirk, whose shot at the blue line deflected off of Esa Lindell and past Khudobin. In the second period, the Stars shot eighteen times at Andrei Vasilevskiy and caught a break on the power-play. During Palat's slashing penalty, John Klingberg's shot deflected off of fellow Stars forward Joe Pavelski to cut the score to 3–1. Later in the period, a hit on Stars player Blake Comeau caused a skirmish to erupt, with Dallas players Corey Perry and Klingberg against Cedric Paquette and Hedman respectively. All players received simultaneous roughing penalties. In the third period, the Stars made it 3–2 when Mattias Janmark's shot snuck past Vasilevskiy. The Lightning kept their offense going in the final 20 minutes, pouring twelve shots on Khudobin, holding off the Stars, and ending the game 3–2 to tie the series 1–1.^[38]

Scoring summary
Period	Team	Goal	Assist(s)	Time	Score
1st	TBL	Brayden Point (10) – pp	Nikita Kucherov (21), Victor Hedman (7)	11:23	1–0 TBL
	TBL	Ondrej Palat (9) – pp	Nikita Kucherov (22), Victor Hedman (8)	14:22	2–0 TBL
	TBL	Kevin Shattenkirk (2)	Blake Coleman (8), Anthony Cirelli (4)	15:16	3–0 TBL
2nd	DAL	Joe Pavelski (10) – pp	John Klingberg (15), Alexander Radulov (8)	14:43	3–1 TBL
3rd	DAL	Mattias Janmark (1)	John Klingberg (16), Alexander Radulov (9)	05:27	3–2 TBL
Penalty summary
Period	Team	Player	Penalty	Time	PIM
1st	DAL	Mattias Janmark	High-sticking	03:20	2:00
	DAL	Joe Pavelski	Tripping	10:58	2:00
	DAL	Jamie Oleksiak	Holding	13:11	2:00
	TBL	Ondrej Palat	Interference	18:59	2:00
2nd	DAL	Blake Comeau	Interference	02:02	2:00
	TBL	Nikita Kucherov	Tripping	03:47	2:00
	TBL	Yanni Gourde	Cross checking	06:26	2:00
	TBL	Ondrej Palat	Slashing	14:38	2:00
	DAL	Corey Perry	Roughing	16:58	2:00
	TBL	Patrick Maroon	Goaltender interference	16:58	2:00
	TBL	Victor Hedman	Roughing	16:58	2:00
	TBL	Cedric Paquette	Roughing	16:58	2:00
	DAL	John Klingberg	Roughing	16:58	2:00
3rd	None

Shots by period
Team	1	2	3	Total
	6	18	5	29
	14	5	= style="text-align:center;"	12	31

Game three

In game three, Dallas put the heat on Andrei Vasilevskiy in the first period. However, among their sixteen shots, only one goal was successfully scored compared to the Lightning's two. Tampa Bay's first came from a misplay by Miro Heiskanen giving Nikita Kucherov a breakaway, sniping the puck past Anton Khudobin. Their second goal came from their captain Steven Stamkos returning from injury for his first game since being injured on February 25. After a rush by the Stars was stopped in the offensive zone, Victor Hedman passed the puck to Stamkos, who was racing on the right side, upon which he fired his shot over Khudobin's blocker to make it 2–0. The Stars' lone goal of the period came short-handed when a shot by Roope Hintz was stopped by Vasilevskiy. The rebound of that save went back to Hintz in the left corner who then passed to an open Jason Dickinson, whose shot got through Vasilevskiy to make it 2–1. The Lightning had a more dominant approach in the second period, putting off 21 shots and scoring three times. The first goal came following Alexander Radulov's hooking penalty which carried over from the first period. After a puck battle behind the net, Anthony Cirelli, who was falling down on the play, passed to Hedman who shot the puck under Khudobin's stick into the net. Tampa Bay's fourth goal arrived when the Stars began a line change and a 3-on-1 developed with Kucherov leading the rush and Brayden Point scoring the goal. The Lightning continued their offensive zone coverage towards the end of the period and in the final minute-and-a-half, Point fired a shot that rebounded to Ondrej Palat, who put it into the net for a 5–1 lead. Dallas then pulled Khudobin before the third period, replacing him with rookie Jake Oettinger. The Stars, showing some frustration, began roughing the Lightning on three occasions: the first with Mattias Janmark and Palat; then both Jamie Benn and Jan Rutta, who had a skirmish after the play, both earning misconducts as a result; and an errant cross-check at 18:05 by Joe Pavelski on Cedric Paquette, which caused a ruckus with both teams. Heiskanen's goal gave the Stars some life in the third period, but Tampa Bay's defense kept the Stars at bay, winning the game 5–2 and taking a 2–1 series lead.^[39]

Scoring summary
Period	Team	Goal	Assist(s)	Time	Score
1st	TBL	Nikita Kucherov (7)	Unassisted	05:33	1–0 TBL
	TBL	Steven Stamkos (1)	Victor Hedman (9), Jan Rutta (1)	06:58	2–0 TBL
	DAL	Jason Dickinson (2) – sh	Roope Hintz (11)	11:19	2–1 TBL
2nd	TBL	Victor Hedman (10) – pp	Anthony Cirelli (5), Ondrej Palat (6)	00:54	3–1 TBL
	TBL	Brayden Point (11)	Nikita Kucherov (23), Victor Hedman (10)	12:02	4–1 TBL
	TBL	Ondrej Palat (10)	Brayden Point (17), Kevin Shattenkirk (9)	18:55	5–1 TBL
3rd	DAL	Miro Heiskanen (6)	Joe Pavelski (6), Andrew Cogliano (2)	06:49	5–2 TBL
Penalty summary
Period	Team	Player	Penalty	Time	PIM
1st	TBL	Erik Cernak	Tripping	08:13	2:00
	DAL	Joel Kiviranta	Interference	09:34	2:00
	DAL	Alexander Radulov	Hooking	19:37	2:00
2nd	DAL	Alexander Radulov	Hooking	04:31	2:00
	TBL	Yanni Gourde	Interference	12:43	2:00
3rd	TBL	Ondrej Palat	Roughing	02:58	2:00
	DAL	Mattias Janmark	Roughing	02:58	2:00
	DAL	Jamie Benn	Roughing	03:38	2:00
	TBL	Jan Rutta	Roughing	03:38	2:00
	DAL	Jamie Benn	Misconduct	03:38	10:00
	TBL	Jan Rutta	Misconduct	03:38	10:00
	TBL	Kevin Shattenkirk	Slashing	09:30	2:00
	TBL	Mikhail Sergachev	Tripping	12:41	2:00
	DAL	Joe Pavelski	Roughing	18:05	2:00
	DAL	Joe Pavelski	Cross checking	18:05	2:00
	TBL	Cedric Paquette	Roughing	18:05	2:00
	TBL	Barclay Goodrow	Roughing	18:05	2:00
	TBL	Patrick Maroon	Misconduct	18:05	10:00
	DAL	Jason Dickinson	Roughing	18:05	2:00

Shots by period
Team	1	2	3	Total
	8	21	3	32
	16	4	= style="text-align:center;"	4	24

Game four

The Tampa Bay Lightning overcame a 2–0 deficit in game four. In the first period, John Klingberg gave the Stars their first goal of the game subsequently on their first shot. The Stars gained a 2–0 lead when Jamie Benn set up Joe Pavelski, whose wrist shot got under Andrei Vasilevskiy. Tampa Bay got on the board with 33 seconds remaining in the period. The play began when defenceman Kevin Shattenkirk, from behind the Lightning net, gave an outstretched pass to Ondrej Palat, who then passed across to the right boards to find a solitary Brayden Point. He maneuvered around Anton Khudobin, going to his backhand to score. Point then tied the game early in the second period, on the power-play. During the Stars' penalty, Alex Killorn made a pass to the front, but the puck deflected off of Andrej Sekera's skate into the air, which Point then batted it into the net. The Stars soon regained the lead when Tyler Seguin's pass around Vasilevskiy got picked up by Corey Perry who, although tied up by Cedric Paquette, allowed the puck to trickle in off his stick. The Lightning tied the game up again when Andrew Cogliano got caught for hooking and on the ensuing Tampa Bay power-play, Mikhail Sergachev set up Nikita Kucherov for a one-timer, but the puck deflected off of Esa Lindell to Yanni Gourde who shot it past Khudobin. In the third period, Killorn put the Lightning up 4–3 when he went out around the net and shot at the top corner behind Khudobin. Pavelski tied the game 4–4 after picking up the rebound of Seguin's shot and then launching the puck at Vasilevskiy which deflected off of Shattenkirk into the net. Into overtime, Benn pushed down Tyler Johnson; controversially, he was called for tripping. While on the ensuing power-play, Patrick Maroon won an offensive zone face-off, sending it back to Victor Hedman. Hedman then passed it to Shattenkirk, whose shot at a sharp angle went over Khudobin's right pad for the game-winning goal and a 3–1 series lead.^[40]

Scoring summary
Period	Team	Goal	Assist(s)	Time	Score
1st	DAL	John Klingberg (4)	Esa Lindell (7)	07:17	1–0 DAL
	DAL	Joe Pavelski (11)	Jamie Benn (11), Alexander Radulov (10)	18:28	2–0 DAL
	TBL	Brayden Point (12)	Ondrej Palat (7), Kevin Shattenkirk (10)	19:27	2–1 DAL
2nd	TBL	Brayden Point (13) – pp	Alex Killorn (5), Nikita Kucherov (24)	02:08	2–2
	DAL	Corey Perry (3)	Tyler Seguin (7), Mattias Janmark (7)	08:26	3–2 DAL
	TBL	Yanni Gourde (7) – pp	Nikita Kucherov (25), Mikhail Sergachev (6)	18:54	3–3
3rd	TBL	Alex Killorn (5)	Mikhail Sergachev (7), Anthony Cirelli (6)	06:41	4–3 TBL
	DAL	Joe Pavelski (12)	Tyler Seguin (8), Miro Heiskanen (19)	11:35	4–4
OT	TBL	Kevin Shattenkirk (3) – pp	Victor Hedman (11), Patrick Maroon (4)	06:34	5–4 TBL
Penalty summary
Period	Team	Player	Penalty	Time	PIM
1st	DAL	Jamie Oleksiak	Hooking	13:52	2:00
2nd	DAL	Jamie Oleksiak	Tripping	01:38	2:00
	TBL	Erik Cernak	Holding	11:10	2:00
	DAL	Andrew Cogliano	Hooking	17:34	2:00
3rd	TBL	Patrick Maroon	Holding	09:16	2:00
	DAL	Corey Perry	Interference	19:31	2:00
	TBL	Brayden Point	Embellishment	19:31	2:00
OT	TBL	Mikhail Sergachev	Holding	00:37	2:00
	DAL	Jamie Benn	Tripping	05:10	2:00

Shots by period
Team	1	2	3	OT	Total
	8	15	8	4	35
	3	14	= style="text-align:center;"	11	2	30

Game five

Corey Perry opened the scoring in the first period of game five. Jamie Oleksiak passed to Tyler Seguin, who then dropped it for Perry to score the initial goal for Dallas. In the second period, the Lightning struck back when Nikita Kucherov passed to Ondrej Palat and he skated past the Dallas defencemen and goaltender Anton Khudobin with a backhand to tie the game 1–1. The Lightning kept putting the pressure on the Stars for the remainder of the second period, firing away 13 shots. In the third period, Mikhail Sergachev's blast from the point gave the Lightning a 2–1 lead. The Stars tied the game 2–2 when Miro Heiskanen's shot from the point rebounded to Joe Pavelski, who put it past Andrei Vasilevskiy to break the record held by Joe Mullen for most career playoff goals scored by a US-born player. The two teams remained tied after the fact heading into overtime. In the first overtime, Dallas put up two shots compared to Tampa Bay's seven, but no goals were scored and the game continued on to double overtime. At 9:23 of the second overtime, Perry picked up a rebound from Seguin's shot and slid the puck past Vasilevskiy to give the Stars the game 3–2, forcing a sixth game.^[41]

Scoring summary
Period	Team	Goal	Assist(s)	Time	Score
1st	DAL	Corey Perry (4)	Tyler Seguin (9), Jamie Oleksiak (4)	17:52	1–0 DAL
2nd	TBL	Ondrej Palat (11)	Nikita Kucherov (26), Brayden Point (18)	04:37	1–1
3rd	TBL	Mikhail Sergachev (3)	Brayden Point (19)	03:38	2–1 TBL
	DAL	Joe Pavelski (13)	Miro Heiskanen (20), Tyler Seguin (10)	13:15	2–2
OT	None
2OT	DAL	Corey Perry (5)	John Klingberg (17), Tyler Seguin (11)	09:23	3–2 DAL
Penalty summary
Period	Team	Player	Penalty	Time	PIM
1st	DAL	Tyler Seguin	High-sticking	04:19	2:00
2nd	TBL	Carter Verhaeghe	Slashing	12:33	2:00
3rd	TBL	Erik Cernak	High-sticking	11:06	2:00
OT	None
2OT	None

Shots by period
Team	1	2	3	OT	2OT	Total
	8	6	13	2	4	33
	10	13	7	7	4	41

Game six

In game six, the Lightning took a 1–0 lead in the first period. After John Klingberg was penalized for tripping, Brayden Point fired a wrist shot that flew past Anton Khudobin after following the rebound of his own initial shot. Tampa Bay gained a 2–0 lead in the second period when a Stars turnover to Patrick Maroon got to Cedric Paquette, who set up Blake Coleman for a one-timer. The Stars remained scoreless for the rest of the game, but they had a close chance in the second period when Joel Kiviranta's shot was stopped by Andrei Vasilevskiy with his skate. Although had a goal been scored, it would have been disallowed as Corey Perry was penalized for goaltender interference on the play. The Lightning held Dallas to just eight shots in the first two periods combined. Vasilevskiy continued his shutout in the third period, stopping all 22 shots by Dallas, earning his first playoff shutout. With a 2–0 victory, the Tampa Bay Lightning won their second Stanley Cup. Lightning defenceman Victor Hedman was given the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the playoffs.^[42]

Scoring summary
Period	Team	Goal	Assist(s)	Time	Score
1st	TBL	Brayden Point (14) – pp	Nikita Kucherov (27), Victor Hedman (12)	12:23	1–0 TBL
2nd	TBL	Blake Coleman (5)	Cedric Paquette (3), Patrick Maroon (5)	07:01	2–0 TBL
3rd	None
Penalty summary
Period	Team	Player	Penalty	Time	PIM
1st	DAL	Andrew Cogliano	Tripping	06:32	2:00
	DAL	John Klingberg	Tripping	11:58	2:00
	TBL	Victor Hedman	Interference	18:36	2:00
2nd	TBL	Ryan McDonagh	Interference	08:02	2:00
	DAL	Corey Perry	Goaltender interference	09:22	2:00
3rd	TBL	Ryan McDonagh	Tripping	15:27	2:00

Shots by period
Team	1	2	3	Total
	11	10	8	29
	4	4	14	22

Team rosters

Years indicated in boldface under the "Finals appearance" column signify that the player won the Stanley Cup in the given year.^[43]

Dallas Stars

	Nat	Player	Position	Hand	Age	Acquired	Place of birth	Finals appearance
14		– C	LW	L	31	2007	Victoria, British Columbia	first
30			G	L	33	2017	Denver, Colorado	second
17			RW	L	22	2016	Ancaster, Ontario	first
11			LW	L	33	2019	Toronto, Ontario	first
15		– A	W	R	34	2018	Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan	first
18			C/LW	L	25	2013	Georgetown, Ontario	first
37			C	L	29	2013	Calgary, Alberta	first
12			C	L	26	2012	Vítkov, Czech Republic	first
42			D	R	32	2018	Edmonton, Alberta	first
34			LW	L	23	2015	Togliatti, Russia	first
39			D	L	29	2018	Keswick, Ontario	first
4			D	L	21	2017	Espoo, Finland	first
24			C/LW	L	23	2015	Tampere, Finland	first
13			LW	L	27	2015	Danderyd, Sweden	first
28			D	R	28	2015	Ellwood City, Pennsylvania	first
35			G	L	34	2018	Ust-Kamenogorsk, Soviet Union	second
25			LW	L	24	2019	Vantaa, Finland	first
3		– A	D	R	28	2010	Lerum, Sweden	first
23		– A	D	L	26	2012	Helsinki, Finland	first
29			G	L	21	2017	Lakeville, Minnesota	first
2			D	L	27	2019	Toronto, Ontario	first
16			RW/C	R	36	2019	Plover, Wisconsin	second
10			RW	R	35	2019	New Liskeard, Ontario	second
45			D	R	34	2018	Ostrava, Czechoslovakia	second
47			RW	L	34	2017	Nizhny Tagil, Soviet Union	first	-	21			LW	L	21	2017	Arcadia, California	first -->
91		– A	C	R	28	2013	Brampton, Ontario	third
5			D	L	34	2019	Bojnice, Czechoslovakia	first

Tampa Bay Lightning

	Nat	Player	Position	Hand	Age	Acquired	Place of birth	Finals appearance
24			D	R	30	2020	Massena, New York	first
81			D	R	23	2017	Košice, Slovakia	first
71			C	L	23	2015	Woodbridge, Ontario	first
55			D	L	35	2015	Calgary, Alberta	third
20			C	L	28	2020	Plano, Texas	first
19			RW	L	27	2020	Toronto, Ontario	first
37			LW	L	28	2014	Saint-Narcisse, Quebec	first
77		– A	D	L	29	2009	Örnsköldsvik, Sweden	second
9			C	R	30	2011	Spokane, Washington	second	-	7		Mathieu Joseph	RW	L	23	2015	Chambly, Quebec	first-->
17			LW	L	31	2007	Halifax, Nova Scotia	second
86			RW	L	27	2011	Maykop, Russia	second
14			LW	L	32	2019	St. Louis, Missouri	second
27		– A	D	L	31	2018	Saint Paul, Minnesota	second
35			G	L	37	2019	London, Ontario	first
18			LW	L	29	2011	Frýdek-Místek, Czechoslovakia	second
13			C	L	27	2012	Gaspé, Quebec	second
21			C	R	24	2014	Calgary, Alberta	first
44			D	R	30	2019	Písek, Czechoslovakia	first
2			D	R	30	2019	Saskatoon, Saskatchewan	first
98			D	L	22	2017	Nizhmekamsk, Russia	first
22			D	R	31	2019	New Rochelle, New York	first
91		– C	C	R	30	2008	Markham, Ontario	second
67			C	R	23	2015	Peterborough, Ontario	first
88			G	L	26	2012	Tyumen, Russia	second
23			LW	L	25	2017	Waterdown, Ontario	first
92			LW	L	23	2017	Moscow, Russia	first	-	29			G	L	28	2019	Brampton, Ontario	first -->

Stanley Cup engraving

The Stanley Cup was presented to Lightning captain Steven Stamkos by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman following the Lightning's 2–0 win in game six.

The following Lightning players and staff qualified to have their names engraved on the Stanley Cup:^[44]

2019–20 Tampa Bay Lightning

Engraving notes

Tampa Bay had 28 players on their extended official team roster during the 2020 playoffs. Of those, 27 automatically qualified to have their names engraved.

• #44 Jan Rutta (D) played 33 regular-season and five playoff games (four in the finals). He missed 19 regular-season and 18 playoff games injured. He qualified by playing four games in the final.
• #55 Braydon Coburn (D) played 40 regular-season and three playoff games (none in the finals). He qualified by playing in half of his team's regular season games.
• #2 Luke Schenn (D) played 25 regular-season and 11 playoff games (including one in the finals). He qualified by playing one game in the finals.
• #24 Zach Bogosian (D) played 27 regular-season games (18 games for Buffalo, nine games for Tampa Bay), plus 20 playoff games for Tampa Bay. Bogosian also missed 22 regular-season and four playoff games injured. He qualified by playing two games in the finals.
• #92 Alexander Volkov (RW) - played nine regular-season games and one game in the finals. He also played 46 games in the minors with Syracuse. He qualified by playing in one game in the finals.
• #7 Mathieu Joseph (RW) – 37 regular-season games and 29 games in the minors for Syracuse. He qualified by playing in half of his team's regular season games.
• #29 Scott Wedgewood (G) – did not play for Tampa Bay during the 2019–20 season, but played 20 games in minors for Syracuse (AHL). Wedgewood was an extra goalie who was carried for the playoffs in case of injuries but did not dress for any games. He was the only player on the roster who traveled with the team to the NHL Bubble not to have his name engraved on the Cup.
• #14 Patrick Maroon (LW) became the third player in the expansion era to win back-to-back Stanley Cups with two different teams. Maroon won with St. Louis in 2019 and Tampa Bay in 2020. The only two other players who have won back to back cups with two different teams since 1967–68 are Claude Lemieux, who won in 1995 with New Jersey and in 1996 with Colorado; and Cory Stillman, who won in 2004 with Tampa Bay and in 2006 with Carolina (the 2004–05 season was not played due to the lockout). Additionally, Maroon's first name was listed simply as “Pat” on the 2020 engraving, after being listed as “Patrick” the prior year.
• Four members of the team staff won both cups with Tampa Bay in 2004 and 2020, 16 years apart: Video Coach Nigel Kirwin, Athletic Trainer Tom Mulligan, Equipment Manager Ray Thill, and Senior Director of Team Services Ryan Belec.

Television and radio

In Canada, the series was broadcast by Sportsnet and CBC Television in English, and TVA Sports in French. In the United States, the finals were split between NBC (Games one, and four through six) and NBCSN (Games two and three). The NHL initially had plans to produce broadcasts for each game using a skeleton crew on-site, such as cameramen and producers, and then each media partners' commentators on both TV and radio were to call the games remotely.^[45] The league then allowed both Sportsnet and NBC commentators into the hubs.^[46]

As he had been doing throughout the playoffs, 74-year-old NBC lead play-by-play commentator Mike "Doc" Emrick called the Cup Finals off of monitors from his home studio in Metro Detroit, citing his advanced age as a potential risk for severe illness from COVID-19.^[47] These were the final games that Emrick called; he announced his retirement on October 19, 2020.^[48]

This also ended up the last Cup Finals called by 63-year-old CBC/Sportsnet lead play-by-play commentator Jim Hughson. As the COVID-19 pandemic continued into the 2020–21 season, Hughson reduced his schedule to only work national Vancouver Canucks home games.^[49] He would later announce his retirement in September 2021.^[50]

External links

• 2020 Stanley Cup Finals at NHL.com

]

Notes and References

1. Web site: NHL announces tentative dates for return to play, compressed off-season. Chris. Johnston. Sportsnet. July 10, 2020. July 10, 2020.
2. Web site: NHL pauses regular season because of coronavirus. NHL.com. March 12, 2020. March 12, 2020.
3. News: NHLPA authorizes further negotiations on 24-team return to play format. Sportsnet. May 22, 2020. May 23, 2020.
4. Web site: NHL is back in business with ratification of CBA, return-to-play plan. Sportsnet. Rogers Sports & Media. July 10, 2020. July 11, 2020.
5. Web site: NHL, NHLPA ratify CBA extension through 2025-26 season. July 10, 2020. July 11, 2020. NHL.com.
6. Web site: Kaplan. Emily. NHL eyeing Toronto, Edmonton as hub cities for season restart. July 1, 2020. July 19, 2020. ESPN.com. ESPN Inc..
7. Web site: How did Toronto and Edmonton beat out Las Vegas as NHL hub cities? It's all about the odds. July 1, 2020. July 19, 2020. Toronto Star.
8. Web site: July 1, 2019. Stars sign winger Corey Perry to one-year contract. September 25, 2020. Sportsnet.
9. Web site: July 1, 2019. Stars sign veteran forward Joe Pavelski to three-year deal. September 25, 2020. Sportsnet.
10. Web site: Mair. Tyler. July 1, 2019. Dallas Signs Andrej Sekera To One-Year, $1.5 Million Contract. September 25, 2020. Defending Big D.
11. Web site: Stars sign defenseman Taylor Fedun to 2-year, 2-way contract . Dallas Star . June 27, 2019.
12. Web site: Stars sign center Jason Dickinson to 2-year contract . Dallas Star . July 11, 2019.
13. Web site: Jim Montgomery dismissed as head coach of Stars . NHL.com . September 15, 2020 . December 10, 2019.
14. News: Mooney . Roger . Lightning part ways with assistant coaches Rick Bowness, Brad Lauer . . May 31, 2018 . September 18, 2020 .
15. Web site: Stars defeat Blues in round-robin, secure No. 3 seed in West. Sadowski. Rick. NHL Enterprises, L. P.. August 9, 2020. NHL.com. August 9, 2020.
16. Web site: Stars use big rally to eliminate Flames in Game 6 of Western First Round. Vickers. Aaron. NHL Enterprises, L. P.. August 20, 2020. NHL.com. August 20, 2020.
17. Web site: Stars top Avalanche in Game 7, advance to Western Conference Final. Satriano. David. NHL Enterprises, L. P.. September 4, 2020. NHL.com. September 4, 2020.
18. Web site: Stars defeat Golden Knights in OT in Game 5, reach Stanley Cup Final. Satriano. David. NHL Enterprises, L. P.. September 14, 2020. NHL.com. September 14, 2020.
19. Web site: Former Rangers captain Ryan Callahan diagnosed with degenerative back disease . . June 20, 2019 . September 29, 2020.
20. Web site: Former Lightning, Rangers d-man Dan Girardi retires as NHL's blocked shots leader . . September 20, 2019 . September 20, 2019.
21. Web site: Lightning sign goaltender Curtis McElhinney to two-year contract . Tampa Bay Lightning . July 1, 2019.
22. Web site: Lightning sign defenseman Luke Schenn . Tampa Bay Lightning . July 1, 2019.
23. Web site: Lightning sign defenseman Luke Witkowski to two-year contract . Tampa Bay Lightning . July 1, 2019.
24. Web site: Lightning sign defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk to one-year contract . Tampa Bay Lightning . August 5, 2019.
25. Web site: Lightning sign free agent forward Pat Maroon for one year . Tampa Bay Lightning . August 24, 2019.
26. Web site: Lightning sign goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy to 8-year extension . Tampa Bay Lightning . July 29, 2019.
27. Web site: Lightning re-sign forward Cedric Paquette to two-year contract . Tampa Bay Lightning . July 5, 2019.
28. Web site: Lightning re-sign forward Brayden Point to three-year contract . Tampa Bay Lightning . September 23, 2019.
29. Web site: February 16, 2020. Lightning acquire Blake Coleman from Devils for Nolan Foote, first-round pick. September 25, 2020. Sportsnet. Rogers Media.
30. Web site: February 24, 2020. Lightning acquire Goodrow from Sharks. September 25, 2020. TSN.
31. Web site: Lightning sign free agent defenseman Zach Bogosian . Tampa Bay Lightning . February 23, 2020.
32. Web site: Stamkos injured in Phase 2, expected to play for Lightning in Qualifiers . Benjamin . Amalie . nhl.com . July 13, 2020.
33. Web site: Flyers defeat Lightning in round-robin, win Eastern Conference top seed. Crosby. Wes. NHL Enterprises, L. P.. August 8, 2020. NHL.com. August 9, 2020.
34. Web site: Lightning top Blue Jackets in overtime in Game 5, win Eastern First Round. Farrell. Sean. NHL Enterprises, L. P.. August 19, 2020. NHL.com. August 19, 2020.
35. Web site: Lightning eliminate Bruins in 2OT of Game 5, advance to Eastern Final. Crosby. Wes. NHL Enterprises, L. P.. August 31, 2020. NHL.com. August 31, 2020.
36. Web site: Lightning defeat Islanders in OT in Game 6, advance to Cup Final. Crosby. Wes. NHL Enterprises, L. P.. September 17, 2020. NHL.com. September 17, 2020.
37. Web site: Stars defeat Lightning in Game 1 of Stanley Cup Final. Rosen. Dan. NHL Enterprises, L. P.. September 19, 2020. NHL.com. September 19, 2020.
38. Web site: Lightning hold off Stars in Game 2, even Stanley Cup Final. Rosen. Dan. NHL Enterprises, L. P.. September 21, 2020. NHL.com. September 21, 2020.
39. Web site: Stamkos, Lightning defeat Stars in Game 3 of Stanley Cup Final, take lead. Rosen. Dan. NHL Enterprises, L. P.. September 23, 2020. NHL.com. September 23, 2020.
40. Web site: Lightning defeat Stars in OT in Game 4 of Stanley Cup Final, extend lead. Satriano. David. NHL Enterprises, L. P.. September 25, 2020. NHL.com. September 25, 2020.
41. Web site: Stars stay alive, defeat Lightning in 2OT in Game 5 of Cup Final. Satriano. David. NHL Enterprises, L. P.. September 26, 2020. NHL.com. September 27, 2020.
42. Web site: Lightning win Stanley Cup, defeat Stars in Game 6 of Final. Rosen. Dan. NHL Enterprises, L. P.. September 28, 2020. NHL.com. September 28, 2020.
43. Web site: NHL Public Relations . NHL releases rosters for Stanley Cup Qualifiers . NHL . 30 September 2020 . 26 July 2020.
44. News: Lightning see names engraved on Stanley Cup for first time. 1 November 2020 . NHL.com . 1 November 2020.
45. Web site: NHL media remain in flux while awaiting finalized coverage plans ahead of restart. Morris. Jim. CBC. June 26, 2020. June 29, 2020.
46. Web site: Return to Play FAQ. July 28, 2020. August 2, 2020. NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L. P..
47. Web site: Doc Emrick will call Islanders-Lightning series starting in Game 4. Best. Neil. Newsday. September 9, 2020. September 11, 2020.
48. Web site: Legendary NHL broadcaster Mike 'Doc' Emrick announces his retirement. October 19, 2020. October 19, 2020. cnn.com. CNN.
49. News: Johnston. Patrick. January 15, 2021. Canucks Notebook: Höglander keeps late sister in his heart, broadcasters stick close to home. TheProvince.com. January 21, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210115011011/https://theprovince.com/sports/hockey/nhl/vancouver-canucks/canucks-notebook-hoglander-keeps-late-sister-in-his-heart-broadcasters-stick-close-to-home. January 15, 2021. live.
50. Web site: Hall of Fame broadcaster Jim Hughson announces retirement. The Athletic. September 21, 2021.