puck drops at 8 p.m. ET
DENVER, COLORADO – The Lightning are four wins from winning the Stanley Cup for a third straight season, something that has happened five times in NHL history and not since the early 1980s.
The New York Islanders were the last team to do it, winning four straight titles from 1980-83.
The Toronto Maple Leafs won the Cup three straight times from 1947-49. The Montreal Canadiens did it an NHL-record five times in a row from 1956-60. The Maple Leafs got the three-peat again from 1962-64. The Canadiens won four straight championships from 1976-79.
Since the Islanders dynasty, the Edmonton Oilers (1984, ’85; 1987, ’88), Pittsburgh Penguins (1991, ’92; 2016, ’17), Detroit Red Wings (1997, ’98) and Lightning are the only teams to repeat as Stanley Cup champions.
The Oilers lost to the Islanders in the 1983 Cup Final before winning the Cup the next two seasons.
The Lightning are the first team since then to reach the Cup Final in three straight seasons.
Tampa Bay and Colorado have never met in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but the two rank first and third, respectively, in regular-season wins over the past four seasons (TBL has 192, COL has 175).
When: Wednesday, June 15 – 8 p.m. ET
Where: Ball Arena – Denver, CO
TV coverage: ABC (check local listings)
Radio coverage: 970 WFLA-AM, Lightning Power Play
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