Andrei Vasilevskiy is the best goalie on the planet, and other observations from the Stanley Cup Final - The Boston Globe

Takeaways from Wednesday’s Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final, in which Tampa went back-to-back with a 1-0 win:

• Though Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov, after missing the entire regular season with hip surgery, scored a ridiculous 32 points, Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy was a supremely deserving Conn Smythe winner as MVP of the playoffs. The best goalie on the planet earned his fifth straight shutout in a closeout game. The others: the 2020 Stanley Cup Final vs. Dallas, and clean sheets against Florida, Carolina, the Islanders, and Montreal this year.  He made 22 saves and became the first netminder to win playoff MVP since Jonathan Quick in 2012.

• The Cup-clinching goal-scorer, Ross Colton, is yet another excellent, offensively dangerous depth player in the Lightning organization, who had a tap-in at 13:27 of the second. The rookie out of Vermont earned his space against Joel Edmundson and put home a setup from David Savard for his fourth playoff goal.  Colton and Savard were the only ones among their teammates who hadn’t lifted the Cup. Savard, after captain Steven Stamkos and assistant captain Victor Hedman, was third in line to hoist the hardware.

• Colton joined John LeClair, Martin St. Louis, Eric Perrin, Tim Thomas, Patrick Sharp, and Viktor Stalberg as Catamounts with Cup rings.

• The Bolts scored the first goal for the 18th time this postseason, matching the record set by the 1989-90 Oilers.

• This was the second-latest Cup handout in league history (July 7), after last year’s bubble tournament. But it was passed around in a full arena – and on home ice, for the first time since Chicago in 2015. Unlike last summer, players will get their day with the Cup. “Back to back days,” as Pat Maroon demanded postgame. Here’s to more normalcy next year.

• No active player has won more Stanley Cups than Maroon, who became the first player since 1964 to win the Cup three seasons in a row with three different teams.

“I was basically crying on the bench with 1:40 left,” he said. “It’s [expletive] amazing.”

As the Cup was passed down to the role players and team staff, Maroon broke off and had a moment with the fans. He held up his camera phone and took a slow lap, pausing to connect with several different groups and individuals in the front rows.

Noticing his teammates had grabbed the Cup and were skating it as a team around the rink, he raised his arms and joined the group. Then, it was time for the team photo. Maroon was the only one holding up three fingers. Most of the others were holding up two.

• Tampa’s dominance, in one stat: it has not lost two postseason games in a row since they were swept by Columbus in the first round of 2019. Since then, they are 15-0 following playoff losses.

Captain Steven Stamkos said afterward the players spoke openly this postseason about how they will soon be dismantled for salary cap reasons. The club was $18 million over the cap during the postseason (when the cap is turned off), and has Goodrow, Coleman, and Savard (unrestricted free agents) on expiring deals. Brayden Point and Ondrej Palat are entering the final years of their contracts.

• An excellent Final for Ryan McDonagh, who was arguably Tampa’s best defenseman at age 32. With five years left at $6.75 million per, he was looking like one of the Bolts’ worst contracts.

• The only Bruins connection on the Lightning is Gemel Smith, who played three games in 2018-19. He was waived, signed with Tampa after that season, and now has a pair of rings. Aside from the little kid in the yellow Bruins jersey in the front row during Maroon’s victory lap, the only other Bruins presence in the building (radio announcer Phil Esposito aside) may have been Dave Andreychuk. Before puck drop, the captain of Tampa’s first Stanley Cup win in 2004 was shown on the Amalie Arena video board chugging an entire beer. Andreychuk (63 games as a Bruin in 1999-2000) still has the finishing touch.

• So ends the NHL on NBC. The crew was emotional as they signed off, toasting a 15-year run as the NHL’s U.S. rightsholder. The team of Kenny Albert and Ed Olczyk, who worked the commentary booth, will head to Turner. Keith Jones and Anson Carter, who were in the NBC studio Wednesday, are rumored to be joining them.

Kathryn Tappen, on the verge of tears, gave a shout-out to Mike Milbury for believing in her during her days at NESN, and helping her get to NBC.

• It was an admirable run from the Habs, who were left for dead in the first round against Toronto, and roared their way to the Cup Final despite being the 18th-place finisher in the regular season.

In the aftermath, Canadiens interim coach Dom Ducharme detailed his club’s injuries, including Shea Weber (thumb), Jeff Petry (finger), Tyler Toffoli (groin), and Brendan Gallagher (“groin, and more”). A full-strength team might have pushed the Bolts a little more, but this was still a stark mismatch.

• Alex Killorn, the former Harvard forward, said he broke his fibula, had surgery last week, and hoped to play later in the series with a freshly implanted rod. He wasn’t needed.

• Carey Price was apparently healthy, but blamed himself for being the difference. “At the end of the day, I just don’t think I played well enough at the start of the series,” said Price, who had an .835 save percentage in the first three games, and allowed three goals in the last two. Will Price, age 33 and 14 years into his career, get another shot?

• A more pressing question: in the 2021-22 Atlantic Division with Tampa, Boston, Toronto and Florida, will Montreal make the playoffs?

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Matt Porter can be reached at matthew.porter@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter: @mattyports.

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https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/07/08/sports/andrei-vasilevskiy-is-best-goalie-planet-other-observations-stanley-cup-final/

2021-07-08 12:46:11Z
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