MONTREAL — The Tampa Bay Lightning aren’t just on the verge of winning the Stanley Cup. They’re on the verge of leaving an even larger legacy.
With a 6-3 victory against the Montreal Canadiens in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final at Bell Centre on Friday, they are one win from sweeping the best-of-7 series.
One more victory, and they will become the second team since the NHL introduced the salary cap in 2005-06 to win back-to-back championships, after the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2016 and 2017.
Win Game 4 here Monday (8 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, SN, TVAS), and they’ll become the first team to sweep the Cup Final since the Detroit Red Wings against the Washington Capitals in 1998.
“You start throwing legacy around and a lot of these words that describe teams that, you know, you sit there and say, ‘Jeez, they were a pretty [darn] good team,’ but you really only get that moniker if you win Cups,” coach Jon Cooper said. “I know we’ve won one, and nobody can take that away from us, but the determination on this group to get another one is … It’s amazing to watch.
“We are not there yet. But I’m so proud of just the maturity level of this group and their sheer determination to continue and to try and get another one, and hopefully at some point here we can do that.”
Video: Johnson, Kucherov power Lightning to 6-3 Game 3 win
This Cup Final has been one of the most lopsided through three games in NHL history.
The Lightning have outscored the Canadiens 14-5, becoming the first team with a…
