2020 Stanley Cup Finals

2020 Stanley Cup Finals
2020 Stanley Cup Finals
	* – Denotes overtime period(s)
Location(s)	Edmonton: Rogers Place
Coaches	Dallas: Rick Bowness (interim); Tampa Bay: Jon Cooper
Captains	Dallas: Jamie Benn; Tampa Bay: Steven Stamkos
Referees	Francis Charron (1, 4); Steve Kozari (2, 5); Wes McCauley (1, 3, 6); Dan O'Rourke (3, 5); Kelly Sutherland (2, 4, 6)
Dates	September 19–28, 2020
MVP	Victor Hedman (Lightning)
Series-winning goal	Brayden Point (12:23, First, G6)
Networks	Canada:; (English): CBC/Sportsnet; (French): TVA Sports; United States:; (English): NBC (1, 4–6), NBCSN (2–3)
Announcers	(CBC/SN) Jim Hughson and Craig Simpson; (TVA) Felix Seguin and Patrick Lalime; (NBC/NBCSN) Mike Emrick, Eddie Olczyk, and Brian Boucher

The 2020 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 2019–20 season and the culmination of the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs. This series was between the Eastern Conference champion Tampa Bay Lightning and the Western Conference champion Dallas Stars. The Lightning won the best-of-seven series, four games to two, for their second championship in franchise history. The Lightning had home-ice advantage in the series with the better regular season record. The series began on September 19 and concluded on September 28. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the entire series was played behind closed doors at Rogers Place in Edmonton. The pandemic resulted in the league suspending the regular season on March 12, 2020, and then scheduling a special 24-team playoff format to be held in two neutral "hub cities" (Edmonton and Toronto) that began on August 1.^[1] Thus it became the first Stanley Cup Finals to be played in the month of September.

This was the first Stanley Cup Finals since 1925 to be played entirely outside the Eastern Time Zone, the first since 1928 to be played entirely in one location, the first since 1989 to be played entirely in Canada, and the first since 2011 to have the Stanley Cup awarded in a Canadian arena. This was the first Stanley Cup Finals since 1950 to feature a neutral site game and the first Stanley Cup Finals to feature two teams from the American Sun Belt (Texas and Florida).

The Dallas Stars set the record for most playoff games played by a team in a single postseason at 27 games.

^ Johnston, Chris (July 10, 2020). "NHL announces tentative dates for return to play, compressed off-season". Sportsnet. Retrieved July 10, 2020.

[new_schedule-1] Johnston, Chris (July 10, 2020). "NHL announces tentative dates for return to play, compressed off-season". Sportsnet. Retrieved July 10, 2020.

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