2022 Stanley Cup Final
1 2 3 4 5 6 Total Tampa Bay Lightning 3* 0 6 2* 3 1 2 Colorado Avalanche 4* 7 2 3* 2 2 4
* – Denotes overtime period(s)
Location(s)	Tampa:Amalie Arena (3, 4, 6) Denver:Ball Arena (1, 2, 5)
Coaches	Tampa Bay:Jon Cooper Colorado:Jared Bednar
Captains	Tampa Bay:Steven Stamkos Colorado:Gabriel Landeskog
National anthems	Tampa Bay: Sonya Bryson-Kirksey Colorado: Amanda Hawkins
Referees	Gord Dwyer (1, 3, 6) Jean Hebert (2, 5) Wes McCauley (2, 4) Chris Rooney (3, 5) Kelly Sutherland (1, 4, 6)
Dates	June 15–26, 2022
MVP	Cale Makar (Avalanche)
Series-winning goal	Artturi Lehkonen (12:28, second)
Networks	Canada: (English):CBC/Sportsnet/Sportsnet Now[1] (French):TVA Sports United States: (English):ABC/ESPN+[2]
Announcers	(CBC/SN)Chris Cuthbert andCraig Simpson[1] (TVA) Felix Seguin,Alexandre R. Picard (1, 2) andPatrick Lalime (3–6) (ABC)Sean McDonough andRay Ferraro[2] (NHL International) Marc Moser (1), E. J. Hradek (2–6) andKevin Weekes[3][4]
← 2021 Stanley Cup Final 2023 →

The2022 Stanley Cup Final was thechampionship series of theNational Hockey League's (NHL)2021–22 season and the culmination of the2022 Stanley Cup playoffs. The series was between theEastern Conference and two-time defendingStanley Cup championTampa Bay Lightning and theWestern Conference championColorado Avalanche. The Avalanche defeated the Lightning four games to two in thebest-of-seven series, earning their third Stanley Cup championship in franchise history and first since2001. Colorado had home-ice advantage with the better regular-season record.^[5]

The series began on June 15, and concluded on June 26.^[5] With theGovernment of Canada allowingcross-border travel for fully vaccinated players and team personnel between Canada and the United States,^[6][7] the league was able to return to its usual two conference alignment and reinstate its standard playoff format that was used from2014–2019, before theCOVID-19 pandemic.^[8] The Final series were still pushed from the usual start date in late May/early June for the third consecutive year,^[9][10] this time due to a scheduled break in the regular season that coincided with the league's planned participation in the2022 Winter Olympics,^[11] though the league's players ultimately did not participate in the Olympics.^[12] When NHL CommissionerGary Bettman tested positive forCOVID-19, NHL Deputy CommissionerBill Daly took over the presentation of the Conn Smythe Trophy and the Stanley Cup. This was the first time since1992 that Gary Bettman did not give the presentation.^[13]

This was Tampa Bay's third consecutive Final appearance and fifth overall. They won the prior two Stanley Cups (2020,2021) and have won three in franchise history.^[14] They were the first team to clinch three consecutive Final appearances since theEdmonton Oilers between 1983 and 1985. The Lightning joined theMontreal Canadiens (1976–1980) andNew York Islanders (1980–1984) for becoming the only teams in league history to post at least eleven consecutive playoff series victories.^[15]

CaptainSteven Stamkos led the team in scoring with 106 points during the regular season. DefencemanVictor Hedman scored 85 points, eclipsing the previous Tampa Bay record for defencemen, which Hedman set in2017. During the off-season, the Lightning signed goaltenderBrian Elliott, defencemanZach Bogosian, and forwardsPierre-Edouard Bellemare andCorey Perry via free agency.^{[16][17][18][19]} They also opted to re-sign forwardsBrayden Point andRoss Colton and defencemanCal Foote withPatrick Maroon re-signing during the season.^{[20][21][22][23]} At the trade deadline, the Lightning acquired forwardsBrandon Hagel andNick Paul.^[24][25] For Corey Perry, this was his third straight Final appearance with three different teams (Dallas Stars in2020,Montreal Canadiens in2021), the first player to accomplish this feat sinceMarian Hossa did it with thePittsburgh Penguins in2008,Detroit Red Wings in2009, andChicago Blackhawks in2010.^[26]

The Lightning finished third in the Atlantic Division gaining 110 points with a51–23–8 record. Tampa Bay defeated theToronto Maple Leafs in the first round in seven games,^[27] followed by a four-game sweep of theirintrastate rival, thePresidents' Trophy-winningFlorida Panthers,^[28] during the second round, and then triumphed over theNew York Rangers in the Eastern Conference final in six games.^[29]

This was Colorado's third appearance in the Final. They won their two prior appearances with their most recent against theNew Jersey Devils in2001.^[30]

Mikko Rantanen led the team in points, scoring 92 overall.^[31] GoaltenderDarcy Kuemper started 57 times for the Avalanche, obtaining 37 wins in the process.^[32] However, during Game 1 of their Conference Final series, Kuemper left the game with an upper-body injury. Backup goaltenderPavel Francouz finished the opening game after replacing Kuemper and started the remaining games of the series as a result.^[33] During the off-season, the Avalanche traded for Kuemper and defencemanKurtis MacDermid.^[34][35] They also picked up free agentDarren Helm.^[36] They re-signed defencemanCale Makar, captainGabriel Landeskog, and Francouz.^[37][38][39] Nearing the trade deadline, the Avalanche acquiredJosh Manson,Nico Sturm,Artturi Lehkonen, andAndrew Cogliano.^{[40][41][42][43]}

The Avalanche finished the season with 119 points via a56–19–7 record, grabbing the Central Division title and first place in the Western Conference.[44] Colorado swept theNashville Predators in four games during the first round,^[45] then defeated theSt. Louis Blues in six games during the second round,^[46] before sweeping theEdmonton Oilers in the Western Conference final.^[47]

Note: The numbers in parentheses represent each player's total goals or assists to that point of the entire playoffs.

In game one, the Avalanche controlled the first period scoring three times compared to the Lightning's one goal. Colorado's captainGabriel Landeskog began the scoring, pushing the puck past Lightning goalieAndrei Vasilevskiy whenMikko Rantanen's shot barely squeaked under the goaltender's pads.^[48] The next goal came when defencemanVictor Hedman's clearing attempt got picked byNathan MacKinnon, whose pass toValeri Nichushkin made it 2–0.^[49] The Lightning halved Colorado's lead whenBrayden Point's dump-in was retrieved byNick Paul who broke in and dangled out Avalanche goaltenderDarcy Kuemper to make 2–1.^[50] The Avalanche regained the two-goal lead five minutes later when Tampa was in a 5-on-3 penalty kill. MacKinnon's shot got blocked and on the rebound he passed back to Landeskog who set up Rantanen for a wrist shot that got tipped in byArtturi Lehkonen.^[51] In the second period, the Lightning got two goals to tie the game.Ondrej Palat scored the first goal as he andNikita Kucherov entered the zone with the latter going inside-out onDevon Toews to set up Palat for the tip-in.^[52] 48 seconds later, the Lightning continuing their offensive zone attack had a pass back toMikhail Sergachev fromBrandon Hagel whose shot through traffic went off the post and into the net.^[53] The third period did not have any scoring albeit the Avalanche firing 12 shots compared to the Lightning's 5 shots, thus the game went into overtime.^[54] In overtime, as the Lightning attempted to clear the zone,J. T. Compher picked up the loose puck and shot it, but it was blocked by a Lightning defenceman.^[55] The puck then came to Nichushkin who passed toAndre Burakovsky and he fired a snap shot past Vasilevskiy to give Colorado a 4–3 victory.^[55][56]

The Avalanche routed the Lightning in game two. In the first period, after Lightning defencemanRyan McDonagh got penalized for roughingJ. T. Compher, a power-play ensued for Colorado. During it,Andre Burakovsky led a cross-ice pass toValeri Nichushkin's tip-in goal to give the Avalanche an early 1–0 lead. The Avalanche then grabbed a 2–0 lead when a 2-on-1 rush withAndrew Cogliano andJosh Manson led to the latter's wrist shot underAndrei Vasilevskiy's blocker. Burakovsky then made it 3–0 when the Avalanche on an offensive zone rush hadMikko Rantanen's shot rebound to Burakovsky for the quick tip-in. Burakovsky almost made it 4–0 when he was given a breakaway thanks to Rantanen's lead pass. In the second period, the Avalanche continued their offensive zone coverage allowing Rantanen to centre a pass to Nichushkin to make it 4–0. The Avalanche then made it 5–0 when the Lightning misplayed a pass leadingDarren Helm andLogan O'Connor on a 2-on-1 break for which the former's wrist shot went over Vasilevskiy's glove. O'Connor was also given a breakaway chance to make it 6–0, but the Lightning goaltender stopped that. In the third period, as Rantanen was in the penalty box for tripping, the Lightning gave the puck away toCale Makar who, withAndrew Cogliano on another 2-on-1, made it 6–0.Ondrej Palat then got called for cross checking and on the ensuing power-play,Nathan MacKinnon made a pass to Rantanen, who quickly passed to Makar for his second goal of the evening to make 7–0. With frustrations boiling over for Tampa Bay, four of their players were called for roughing for which Colorado retaliated with their own roughing calls. However, the Avalanche claimed a 7–0 victory withDarcy Kuemper stopping the 16 shots he faced.^[57]

In game three, the Lightning showed more offence than their previous two games. However, the Avalanche began the scoring in the first period. After a coach's challenge revealedValeri Nichushkin's goal was offside, and thenOndrej Palat got called for high-sticking, Colorado went on the power-play. During the power-play,Cale Makar set upMikko Rantanen for a quick shot through traffic which pinballed offAndrei Vasilevskiy andErik Cernak for an easy tap-in for Avalanche captainGabriel Landeskog. The Lightning tied the game less than five minutes later when the Avalanche gave the puck away toAnthony Cirelli who passed toPatrick Maroon and then back again to Cirelli who tried to deke outDarcy Kuemper except his mishandling of the puck went five-hole through Kuemper. The Lightning then gained the lead for the first time in this series afterDevon Toews fanned on a pass leading to a breakout of Tampa Bay. Palat andNikita Kucherov went down the ice, withSteven Stamkos trailing. Palat passed back to Stamkos who set up Palat again for a snap shot that went past Kuemper for a 2–1 lead. In the second period, the Lightning outscored the Avalanche, four goals to one. The first goal came off a turn-over from Colorado'sJosh Manson who gave the puck toVictor Hedman setting up an openNick Paul for a 3–1 lead. However, the Avalanche minimized the Lightning's lead to one goal, when on the power-play, Rantanen and Makar set up Landeskog's snap shot goal. Tampa Bay regained their two-goal lead when Kucherov and Stamkos lead the offensive zone rush with Kucherov back-handing a pass to an open Stamkos for a quick wrist shot. Patrick Maroon made it 5–2 deking out the defencemen with his shot rolling up Kuemper's blocker to the top of the net.Corey Perry made it 6–2 when the Lightning were on the power-play, tipping in a shot by Palat that went over Kuemper. Although the third period had no goals scored, both teams leveled their frustration at each other with bothLogan O'Connor andRoss Colton fighting and Patrick Maroon andAndrew Cogliano both squaring off after the whistle resulting in misconducts.^[58]

In game four, the Lightning and Avalanche traded off periods where one team dominated the shot clock. The first period saw Tampa Bay fire 17 shots compared to Colorado's four shots. The third shot for the Lightning 36 seconds into the game gave Tampa Bay their first goal whenErik Cernak's shot bounced off of goaltenderDarcy Kuemper toAnthony Cirelli who fired it into the net. Although Kuemper's mask had come off during the play, it was still ruled a goal due to the continuation of the puck. In the second period, the Avalanche poured off 17 shots compared to the Lightning's seven shots. Both teams ended up scoring this period. Colorado got the equalizer on the power-play whenNathan MacKinnon passed toMikko Rantanen who passed to the front of the net and MacKinnon redirected the puck in with his skate. Tampa Bay regained the lead as defencemanVictor Hedman led the rush into the offensive zone, slipping by the defenders, and backhanding a shot over Kuemper for 2–1 advantage. However, as the teams switched on shots again, this time with Tampa Bay shooting ten times compared to Colorado's six, the Avalanche tied the game. As the Avalanche were working the point,Darren Helm shot atAndrei Vasilevskiy and the rebound went toNico Sturm whose shot deflected off ofAndrew Cogliano and into the net. With the game tied at two goals apiece, the game went into overtime. In overtime, Kuemper flipped the puck ahead toArtturi Lehkonen who passed to a speedingNazem Kadri who got the shot through Vasilevskiy and into the top part of the net. The goal gave Colorado a 3–2 victory and a chance to win the series in Game 5 in Colorado.^[59]

With a potential Stanley Cup victory in Colorado for the Avalanche in game five, the Lightning tried to hold on to extend the series. The first period saw both teams relatively even in shots with Colorado holding a one-shot advantage. However, Tampa Bay began the scoring asMikhail Sergachev cleared the defensive zone forwarding a pass toCorey Perry with a cross-ice pass toJan Rutta whose slap shot found its way pastDarcy Kuemper for a 1–0 lead. The second period held a different story as the Avalanche held a stronger advantage in shots and managed to tie the game, prior to Tampa Bay's proceeding goal. The Avalanche, upon winning a faceoff, hadNathan MacKinnon pass toCale Makar who shot the puck atAndrei Vasilevskiy but the rebound bounced toValeri Nichushkin for an easy tap-in goal.Nikita Kucherov put the Lightning up 2–1 on a 4-on-3 power-play as his one-timer through traffic found its way above Kuemper's blocker to the back of the net. Much like in game four, the Avalanche tied the game in the third period. Once Colorado was able to enter the offensive zone, they set up Makar for a wrist shot through traffic that deflected off of Vasilevskiy, rebounding toErik Cernak's skate and pinballing through Vasilevskiy and into the net. However, the Lightning reobtained the lead with less than seven minutes left, as the Lightning worked the offensive zone, eventually leading to anOndrej Palat one-timer that got past Kuemper for a 3–2 advantage. The Avalanche continued to press the Lightning. However, Tampa Bay held off any late attempts to win the game 3–2 and force a sixth game.^[60]

Back in Tampa for game six, the Lightning struck first during the first period. As the Lightning were working the forecheck, a giveaway byCale Makar brought an errant deflection toSteven Stamkos who put it five-hole throughDarcy Kuemper. The Avalanche managed to tie the game in the second period during their offensive zone coverage which led to a delayed penalty on Tampa Bay. On the delayed penalty,Nathan MacKinnon's shot from the short side beatAndrei Vasilevskiy. Colorado then gained the lead when a 3–on–2 involvingJosh Manson, MacKinnon, andArtturi Lehkonen resulted in a wrist shot by the latter to go up 2–1. With the lead the Avalanche continued to shoot at the Lightning goaltender while also maintaining defence. The Avalanche held on to claim a 2–1 victory to win their third Stanley Cup.^[61]

Cale Makar was awarded theConn Smythe Trophy asmost valuable player during the playoffs. He became the third defenceman to win theNorris Trophy, Conn Smythe Trophy and Stanley Cup in the same year; equallingBobby Orr andNicklas Lidstrom in accomplishing this feat.^[62]Corey Perry became the first player in league history to be on the losing side of three consecutive Final series, while playing for three different teams.^[26]

Years indicated inboldface under the "Final appearance" column signify that the player won the Stanley Cup in the given year.

#	Nat	Player	Position	Hand	Age	Acquired	Place of birth	Final appearance
12		Alex Barre-Boulet	C	L	25	2021	Montmagny, Quebec	second(2021)
41		Pierre-Edouard Bellemare	C	L	37	2021	Le Blanc-Mesnil, France	second(2018)
24		Zach Bogosian	D	R	31	2021	Massena, New York	second(2020)
81		Erik Cernak	D	L	25	2017	Košice, Slovakia	third(2020,2021)
71		Anthony Cirelli	C	L	24	2015	Woodbridge, Ontario	third(2020,2021)
79		Ross Colton	C	L	25	2016	Robbinsville, New Jersey	second(2021)
1		Brian Elliott	G	L	37	2021	Newmarket, Ontario	first
52		Callan Foote	D	R	23	2017	Englewood, Colorado	second(2021)
38		Brandon Hagel	LW	L	23	2022	Saskatoon, Saskatchewan	first
77		Victor Hedman –A	D	L	31	2009	Örnsköldsvik, Sweden	fourth(2015,2020,2021)
17		Alex Killorn –A	LW	L	32	2007	Halifax, Nova Scotia	fourth(2015,2020,2021)
86		Nikita Kucherov	RW	L	28	2011	Maykop, Russia	fourth(2015,2020,2021)
14		Patrick Maroon	LW	L	34	2019	St. Louis, Missouri	fourth(2019,2020,2021)
27		Ryan McDonagh –A	D	L	32	2018	Saint Paul, Minnesota	fourth(2014,2020,2021)
16		Riley Nash	C	R	33	2022	Consort, Alberta	first
18		Ondrej Palat	LW	L	31	2011	Frýdek-Místek, Czechoslovakia	fourth(2015,2020,2021)
20		Nick Paul	LW	L	27	2022	Mississauga, Ontario	first
10		Corey Perry	RW	R	37	2021	New Liskeard, Ontario	fourth(2007,2020,2021)
21		Brayden Point	C	R	26	2014	Calgary, Alberta	third(2020,2021)
93		Anthony Richard	C	L	25	2022	Trois-Rivières, Quebec	first
44		Jan Rutta	D	R	31	2019	Písek, Czechoslovakia	third(2020,2021)
98		Mikhail Sergachev	D	L	23	2017	Nizhnekamsk, Russia	third(2020,2021)
91		Steven Stamkos –C	C	R	32	2008	Markham, Ontario	fourth(2015,2020,2021)
88		Andrei Vasilevskiy	G	L	27	2012	Tyumen, Russia	fourth(2015,2020,2021)

#	Nat	Player	Position	Hand	Age	Acquired	Place of birth	Final appearance
60		Justus Annunen	G	L	22	2018	Kempele, Finland	first
16		Nicolas Aube-Kubel	RW	R	26	2021	Slave Lake, Alberta	first
95		Andre Burakovsky	LW	L	27	2019	Klagenfurt, Austria	second(2018)
4		Bowen Byram	D	L	21	2019	Cranbrook, British Columbia	first
11		Andrew Cogliano	C/LW	L	34	2022	Toronto, Ontario	second(2020)
37		J. T. Compher	C	R	27	2015	Northbrook, Illinois	first
39		Pavel Francouz	G	R	32	2018	Plzeň, Czechoslovakia	first
49		Sam Girard	D	L	24	2017	Roberval, Quebec	first
43		Darren Helm	C	L	35	2021	St. Andrews, Manitoba	third(2008,2009)
6		Erik Johnson	D	R	34	2011	Bloomington, Minnesota	first
3		Jack Johnson	D	L	35	2021	Indianapolis, Indiana	first
91		Nazem Kadri	C	L	31	2019	London, Ontario	first
35		Darcy Kuemper	G	L	32	2021	Saskatoon, Saskatchewan	first
92		Gabriel Landeskog –C	LW	L	29	2011	Stockholm, Sweden	first
62		Artturi Lehkonen	LW	L	26	2022	Piikkiö, Finland	second(2021)
56		Kurtis MacDermid	D	L	28	2021	Quebec City, Quebec	first(did not play)
29		Nathan MacKinnon –A	C	R	26	2013	Halifax, Nova Scotia	first
8		Cale Makar	D	R	23	2017	Calgary, Alberta	first
42		Josh Manson	D	R	30	2022	Hinsdale, Illinois	first
59		Ben Meyers	C	L	23	2022	Delano, Minnesota	first
32		Hunter Miska	G	L	26	2019	Stacy, Minnesota	first
28		Ryan Murray	D	L	28	2021	Regina, Saskatchewan	first(did not play)
18		Alex Newhook	C	L	21	2019	St. John's, Newfoundland	first
13		Valeri Nichushkin	RW	L	27	2019	Chelyabinsk, Russia	first
25		Logan O'Connor	RW	R	25	2018	Missouri City, Texas	first
96		Mikko Rantanen –A	RW	L	25	2015	Nousiainen, Finland	first
78		Nico Sturm	C	L	27	2022	Augsburg, Germany	first
7		Devon Toews	D	L	28	2020	Abbotsford, British Columbia	first

The Stanley Cup was presented to Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog by NHL deputy commissionerBill Daly following the Avalanche's 2–1 win in Game 6.^[63]

This is a list of 52 names that were engraved on the Stanley Cup in 2022:^[64]

2021–22 Colorado Avalanche

• * Played both centre and wing.
• † Did not play in Final.
• ‡ Exemption granted to engrave the name of a player who did not automatically qualify.^[a]

• #28Ryan Murray (D) played in 37 regular season games, but did not dress in the playoffs. He had missed 39 games in the regular season due to injuries. As he did not automatically qualify,^[a] Murray was given an exemption for spending the entire season on the Avalanche roster.
• Charlotte Grahame (Vice President of Hockey Administration) andCurtis Leschyshyn (Pro Scout) had their names left off the Cup so two other pro scouts would have their names engraved for the first time; Grahame was previously included when Colorado won the Cup in2001, while Leschyshyn won the Cup with the Avalanche as a player in1996. Ten more amateur scouts, two development coaches, and more team executives and club staff were left off the Cup due the 52-name limit; all received championship rings.

• Eleven players that were on the roster were left off the Stanley Cup engraving due to not qualifying.^[a] None of them played in the playoffs. They received championship rings, but were left off the Stanley Cup engraving. Colorado did not request an exemption to engrave any of their names.^[65]

Included in team picture

• #12Jayson Megna (C) – 20 regular season games
• #26Jacob MacDonald (D) – 8 regular season games
• #60Justus Annunen (G) – 2 regular season games, dressed for 3 playoff games

Not in team picture

• #11-#57Mikhail Maltsev^[b] (LW) – 18 regular season games
• #9Dylan Sikura (C) – 5 regular season games
• #61Martin Kaut (RW) – 6 regular season games
• #67Keaton Middleton (D) – 0 regular season games, 49 games withColorado of theAmerican Hockey League (AHL)
• #93Jean-Luc Foudy (C) – 0 regular season games, 65 games with Colorado of the AHL
• #10Roland McKeown (D) – 0 regular season games, 61 games with Colorado of the AHL
• #32Hunter Miska (G) – 0 regular season games, 17 games with Colorado of the AHL
• #50Trent Miner (G) – 0 regular season games, 5 games with Colorado of the AHL

In Canada, this was the eighth consecutive Stanley Cup Final broadcast bySportsnet andCBC Television inEnglish, andTVA Sports inFrench. The series was also streamed on Sportsnet Now and Rogers NHL Live.^[1][66] Some stations in Sportsnet's sibling broadcast networkCitytv also simulcast ABC's coverage of the deciding Game 6 forsimultaneous substitution purposes, similarly to how Canadian networks handled the2019 NBA Finals.^[67][68]

In the United States, the series was televised onABC and streamed onESPN+.^[2] This was the first year of a seven-year deal in which ABC broadcasts the Final in even years, alternating withTNT.^[69][70] This was thus ABC's first Final since2004. With the entire series on ABC, 2022 was the first time that the Final series were carried in their entirety on broadcast television since1980 (under ABC/ESPN's previous contract, the series was split between the two networks. And under the previous broadcast deal withNBC, coverage of the series was also split with two games exclusive toNBCSN).^[71][72] ABC's coverage drew the Final's highest average viewership since 2019, with 4.6 million viewers.^[73]

• 2022 Stanley Cup Final at NHL.com

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