By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor
Nearly two months after it all started, it has come to an end. The Stanley Cup has been awarded.
The Tampa Bay Lightning emerged victorious in Game 6, posting a 2-0 shutout win over the Dallas Stars to claim their second Stanley Cup in franchise history.
It took 12:23 for the Lightning to get the goal they needed to win. It came on their second power play of the game. Brayden Point fired a shot high on Anton Khudobin that left a rebound, and Point hustled in and put it home for his 14th goal of the playoffs.
While that was the only goal of the first period, the Lightning were well on their way, holding the Stars to just four shots in the first period.
In the second, it was more of the same, as the Stars were again held to four shots. The Lightning had 10 and another one found the net.
Patrick Maroon made a great play to knock down a clearing attempt as the Lightning completed a line change. Maroon fed Cedric Paquette with a pass, starting a three-on-two that was finished off with a one-timer by Blake Coleman to make it 2-0 at 7:01.
For the remainder of the game, the Lightning shut everything down. Dallas had limited chances throughout, and despite taking 14 shots in the third period, the Lightning blocked as many shots as the Stars had for the game, a total of 22.
As for the ones that made it on goal, Andrei Vasilevskiy took care of all of them, completing the shutout win and helping the Lightning to their second Stanley Cup in franchise history.
Victor Hedman was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the playoffs. He had 10 goals and 12 assists for 22 points in 25 games.
With that, the 2019-20 season is officially in the books. There will be plenty to follow in the coming weeks though. A week from Tuesday, the NHL Draft will take place over two days and free agency begins next Friday, bringing us right into the heart of the NHL offseason in a matter of days.
We will have more coverage of the draft and free agency as they happen next week.