Stars vs. Lightning: 2020 Stanley Cup Final Stats and 2021 Title Odds

The Tampa Bay Lightning finished off their second Stanley Cup victory in franchise history in commanding fashion Monday night. 

The Lightning benefited from the goal-scoring prowess of Brayden Point, who scored his 14th goal of the postseason, and the 2-0 shutout was the only one in the six-game series. 

As was the theme throughout the series, Tampa Bay put much more pressure on the net than the Dallas Stars and had its highest-profile players step up with goals in key situations. 

Tampa Bay is now 2-1 in the Stanley Cup Final in its franchise history, while Dallas dropped to 1-4 after winning its first title in 1999.

It may be hard for Dallas to get back to the championship tilt next season. The last two teams it beat in the Western Conference are in possession of better odds to win the 2021 title. 

Stanley Cup Final Stats

Tampa Bay made some unique history with its winning run to the Stanley Cup.

According to Stats Inc., the Lightning became the first team in the expansion era to hoist the cup a year after it was ousted in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs: 

To avoid losing in the first round again, Tampa Bay made some slight improvements in the offseason, including the addition of Patrick Maroon to its forward depth. 

Maroon, who won the Stanley Cup with the St. Louis Blues in 2019, became the eighth player and second in the 2000s to win the championship in consecutive seasons with different teams, per NHL Public Relations: 

The Lightning finished off the series victory with a rare shutout. Andrei Vasilevskiy became the second goalie to record his first shutout of a playoff run in the clinching game of the Stanley Cup Final, per NHL PR:

In six playoff contests, Tampa conceded only one goal, but it was unable to limit the Stars' production over the first five games of the series, when it allowed 15 goals (while scoring 16). 

Brayden Point led the series with five goals, including the opening tally of Game 6. That goal was assisted by Nikita Kucherov and Victor Hedman.

Kucherov's 27th postseason assist moved him into some elite territory, According to NHL.com's Adam Kimelman, only Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux have had more helpers in a single postseason: 

Point and Kucherov finished with eight points each in the series, but neither performance was good enough to solidify the Conn Smythe Trophy.

Hedman edged out Point for the postseason Most Valuable Player honor, per TSN's Frank Seravalli: 

The Swede became the first defender since Chicago's Duncan Keith in 2015 to win the Conn Smythe Trophy. He finished the postseason with 22 points off 10 goals and 12 assists and a plus-minus of 13. 

Dallas did not have a player record more than five points in the series. Joe Pavelski, John Klingberg and Tyler Seguin all had five each for an offense that produced 46 fewer shots on goal. 

The Stars' loss marked the third time in their four Stanley Cup defeats in which they lost the series in Game 6. They also fell in Game 6 in 1991 against Pittsburgh and 2000 versus New Jersey. 

2021 Title Odds

Colorado (+800; bet $100 to win $800)

Tampa Bay (+1000)

Vegas (+1000)

Boston (+1150)

Philadelphia (+1300)

Pittsburgh (+1500)

Washington (+1500)

St. Louis (+1700)

Toronto (+1800)

Dallas (+2000)

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

Colorado has won a playoff series in each of the last two postseasons, but its expectations will be much higher whenever the 2020-21 campaign begins. 

The Avalanche are an intriguing favorite to win the 2021 Stanley Cup because of their young core of attacking talent. 

Five of their top seven point earners during the regular season were 25 or younger. The other two players were 27-year-old Gabriel Landeskog and 29-year-old Nazem Kadri.

With Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Mikko Rantanen, Colorado should be able to finish safely inside the top four of the Western Conference and push Vegas and Dallas for the No. 1 seed. 

Colorado could also be driven by its Game 7 defeat to Dallas in the Western Conference Semifinals. It used 10 goals in Games 5 and 6 to force a series-deciding game that was won in overtime by the Stars. 

However, if Tampa Bay gets a healthy Steven Stamkos back for the start of the regular season, it may make a push for the Presidents' Trophy and a Stanley Cup repeat. Stamkos missed a majority of the playoffs with a core muscle injury.

A fully fit Stamkos combined with Point, Kucherov and Hedman should make life difficult for most of the Eastern Conference teams. 

If there is one long shot to consider right now, it resides in the Eastern Conference in the form of Toronto. 

The Maple Leafs have the star power in Auston Matthews and John Tavares to go deep into the postseason.

Toronto could be motivated in a similar way as Tampa Bay was this season after suffering a disappointing opening-series loss to Columbus. 

The Maple Leafs finished with the fifth-most regular-season points in the East and could be in position to gain spots if Boston loses Torey Krug in free agency and they outplay some of their closest rivals throughout the regular season.

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.

Statistics obtained from Hockey Reference.