Tampa Bay Lightning denied three-peat by Colorado Avalanche but adamant 'it's not the end of our run'

TAMPA, Florida The Tampa Bay Lightning came just short of completing the first three-peat of the Stanley Cup since 1983, but they don't think their dynasty has ended.

Who said we were finished? After the Lightning's 2-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final on Sunday evening, Lightning captain Steven Stamkos made the following statement. "There is this core. We have fought. We have experienced everything you can imagine, and we have, for the most part, managed to prevail."

With the victory, the Avalanche won their first Stanley Cup since 2001. As the playoffs got underway, they were the favorites to both win this series and the Cup.

The coach of Tampa Bay, Jon Cooper, stated, "It's not like we lost to some powder puff. "That team over there is fierce. We never had ice at home. We competed against all these elite teams. They succeeded. We have encountered another obstacle that we were unable to overcome."

Cooper concurred with Stamkos that the Lightning's winning streak continued after the Avalanche. The Lightning have advanced to four Stanley Cup Finals and six conference finals in the last eight years.

"The playoff run came to an end. But our journey is not over yet "Cooper remarked. "These are the teams you remember because I have had the incredible good fortune in my coaching career to have won titles at various levels. You don't always remember that a team lost as much. But I believe this team will stick in my mind the most. The kind of fighters these men are has been well-documented in light of what they endured and the injuries they sustained. You ought to check out the situation [with injuries]."

Star center Brayden Point, who missed the previous two rounds due to a lower-body injury sustained in Game 7 against the Toronto Maple Leafs on May 14, was absent from the Lightning. Point didn't play in the remaining games of the series after appearing in the first two games versus Colorado but failing to make an impact. A handful of players, including defenseman Erik Cernak and forward Anthony Cirelli, played despite being hurt.

You'll be astonished when the injury report is released, according to Tampa Bay forward Pat Maroon. "Simply put, I'm incredibly proud of these guys for what they've accomplished over the past three years. We had a fantastic run. We simply failed."

The Lightning have a few free agents heading into the off-season, including reliable defenseman Jan Rutta, pivotal winger Ondrej Palat, and Nick Paul, who was acquired via the trade deadline. The team's core, however, is committed for 2022–2023.

Cooper argued that this club should be considered one of the best NHL teams in history, regardless of whether they attempt to win three Cups in four years.

He claimed that these players were on par with the Oilers and the Islanders from the 1980s. "Teams you've been talking about for years."