Twin Cities natives McDonagh and Richards win Stanley Cup with Tampa
Tampa Bay Lightning players celebrate after defeating the Dallas Stars to win the Stanley Cup in Edmonton, Alberta, on Monday, Sept. 28, 2020.[(Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)]
The Tampa Bay Lightning are the champions of bubble hockey. Brayden Point scored his playoff-best 14th goal, and the Lightning beat the Dallas Stars 2-0 to win the Stanley Cup and finish off the NHL playoffs staged in quarantine during the pandemic.
The clock hitting zeros in an empty arena set off a wild celebration for a group that endured years of playoff heartbreak and two months in isolation.
Goals from Point and Blake Coleman and a 22-save shutout by Andrei Vasilevskiy were enough to power the Lightning to their second championship in franchise history after winning it in 2004.
One of the best to ever play on the Gopher Hockey blue line is now a Stanley Cup champion as All-American alum and former Minnesota captain Todd Richards became the 11th Pride on Ice product to help his team to an NHL playoff championship.
An assistant coach for the Tampa Bay Lightning, Richards guided the Eastern Conference champions to a 4-2 series win in the Stanley Cup final.
A native of Crystal, Richards is in his fourth season with the Lightning in addition to his more than 400 games of NHL head coaching experience in seven seasons between the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Minnesota Wild.
Ryan McDonagh, a Cretin-Derham Hall graduate, was one of Tampa’s top defenders.