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2018 tampa bay lightning roster12/10/2023 ![]() The cross-border travel restrictions under the pandemic also forced the league to temporarily realign this season into four divisions with no conferences, putting all seven Canadian teams into one of those divisions. Consequently, a divisional-based postseason format was held, featuring intra-divisional matchups in the first two rounds. The four divisional playoff champions were then re-seeded by regular season points in the Stanley Cup Semifinals, with the winners of the Semifinals advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals. Under a normal playoff format, this finals matchup would be impossible, as both the Lightning and Canadiens compete in the NHL's Eastern Conference. However, under the temporarily realigned divisions, some had mixed conferences, which enabled this scenario. This was the first Finals since 2009 to be played entirely in the Eastern Time Zone, the first since 2011 to feature a Canadian-based team, the first since 2015 to end in a team winning the Stanley Cup at home, and the first since 2018 to require less than six games. This Finals matchup broke the Stanley Cup Finals record for highest combined seed between teams, with twenty-six (Tampa Bay eighth, and Montreal eighteenth). Main articles: 2020–21 NHL season § Impact of COVID-19 and temporary realignment, and 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs This record was previously held by the 1991 Stanley Cup Finals, which had a combined seed of twenty-three. The COVID-19 pandemic impacted the league for the second straight year with the Government of Canada maintaining its cross-border travel restrictions. ![]() Consequently, the league temporarily realigned for this season into four regional divisions with no conferences, putting all seven Canadian teams into one of those divisions. Each team played 56 regular season games, all intra-divisional matchups. The league returned to the traditional 16-team playoff format, with the first two rounds of the playoffs also featuring intra-divisional matchups. This format delayed any possibility of cross-border travel until the third round. The league explored the possibility of having the Canadian team that advanced to the third round hold their home games in a neutral NHL city in the U.S. but were granted a cross-border travel exemption approved by the Public Health Agency of Canada. ĭue to local COVID-19 health protocols during the regular season, all 24 American teams hosted a limited amount of in-person spectators while all seven Canadian teams played behind closed doors. During the first three rounds of the playoffs, a number of U.S. teams further increased their capacity, and three of the Canadian playoff teams admitted spectators for the first time. The Canadiens were the first team from Canada to offer tickets to the general public. Main article: 2020–21 Montreal Canadiens season The Canadiens were permitted to issue 3,500 tickets for the Bell Centre after Quebec health officials denied the team's request to increase it to 10,500 fans (50 percent of capacity) before game 3.īy the time the Finals started, Florida health officials had allowed the Lightning to admit 16,300 fans (85 percent of full capacity) at Amalie Arena for game 1, then allowed up to 100% capacity for game 2 and beyond. This was the thirty-fifth Stanley Cup Finals appearance for this team. They have won the Stanley Cup a record twenty-four times (the second most championships in major North American sports behind the New York Yankees' twenty-seven World Series victories). They are the most recent Canadian team to win the Stanley Cup, doing so in 1993 (their most recent Finals appearance) against the Los Angeles Kings, winning in five games. They were also the first Canadian team since the 2011 Vancouver Canucks to reach the Finals.
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