5 Takeaways from Stanley Cup Final Game 5

With their backs against the wall and Lorde Stanley in the building, the Tampa Bay Lightning delayed the parade and extended the season another day. They just had to win one game and they did it. They proved they could win in Denver and proved once again that they will never go away.

Ondrej Palat scored the game winning goal yet again as this series has tightened up the way it should be. With things now shifting back to Tampa, all bets are off as the Lightning just have to win one game again. It will be a tall task once again, but you just cannot ever write them off.

Let’s get into what we took away.

5. The Champs are Still Standing

In almost every series of this run, the Lightning have been pushed to extents we did not see in their previous two runs to the cup. Toronto left the door open in round one, the Rangers left the door open in round three, and now Colorado has left the door open in the Final. Until that door is completely slammed shut, locked, and the key is buried, they will never, ever go away.

They have proved it time and time again why they are the champs. They had every reason to give in. Between the mounting injuries and going up against an opponent who truthfully might just be better than them.  It has felt like this just might be the end of the run, but we will have to wait another game to see how this thing ends. And once again, as long as they are still standing, they are never dead.

4. Lightning Hanging on by a Thread

Everybody is banged up this time of the year, but this Lightning team is especially going through it. Even without Brayden Point, the bodies still in the lineup have been through the wringer.

Anthony Cirelli managed to still play an effective role despite not taking any faceoffs since his injury in game four. After missing much of the second and the entirety of the third in game four, Erik Cernak displayed one of the gutsier efforts in game five. The guy is a puck magnet, and he always keeps going. He played nearly 20 minutes despite the clear pain he was in.

Playing with five defensemen killed the Lightning in game four, but through all of it they are still here. Up against a better opponent, the Lightning are just managing to hang around.

3. Lightning Win Special Teams Battle

This was the first game of the series in which the Lightning were able to win the special teams battle. And for much of the series, that has not even really been a battle. The Lightning held Colorado scoreless on their two power plays after they had scored a power play goal in every game of the series so far. On top of that, the Lightning were finally able to score on the powerplay as Nikita Kucherov converted on a four-on-three-man advantage.

Special teams were one of the biggest aspects of the series that you could have pointed to for why Tampa Bay found themselves in a 3-1 hole. They just could not stop the red-hot Colorado power play and their own seemed to have dried up completely. If the Lightning can find a way to win the special teams battle again or at the very least, come out even, then they have a real shot to force a seventh game.

1. Ondrej Palat

What more can you say about this guy? This is the player who gets you over the edge. He is the ultimate playoff gamer. His thing has always been being the guy to do all the little things that go unnoticed. His third period goal was his 11th of the playoffs and his third game winning goal.

His playoff performance alone will make him an attractive target on the free agent market this summer as other teams will be lining up to pay this guy to help get their team over the edge. Whether or not this is the end of his time in Tampa, what a run it has been. The man is a playoff legend for this team.