2022 Stanley Cup Final

Paths to the Final

Tampa Bay reached its third consecutive Final and fifth overall, having won the previous two Stanley Cups. The Lightning became the first team to appear in three straight Finals since the Edmonton Oilers from 1983 to 1985, and joined the Montreal Canadiens and New York Islanders as the only clubs with at least eleven consecutive playoff series victories. Captain Steven Stamkos led the team in regular-season scoring with 106 points, while defenceman Victor Hedman set a franchise record for defencemen with 85 points.

Off-season additions included goaltender Brian Elliott, defenceman Zach Bogosian, and forwards Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Corey Perry, who made his third consecutive Final appearance with a third different team. At the trade deadline, the Lightning acquired forwards Brandon Hagel and Nick Paul. Tampa Bay finished third in the Atlantic Division with 110 points, then defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs in seven games, swept the Presidents' Trophy-winning Florida Panthers, and beat the New York Rangers in six games in the Eastern Conference final. Colorado made its third Final appearance, having last won in 2001.

Game summaries

In Game 1, Colorado took a 3–1 first-period lead on goals by Gabriel Landeskog, Valeri Nichushkin, and Artturi Lehkonen. Tampa Bay tied the game in the second period with tallies from Ondrej Palat and Mikhail Sergachev. After a scoreless third period, Andre Burakovsky scored in overtime to give the Avalanche a 4–3 victory. The series concluded with Colorado's 2–1 win in Game 6.

Stanley Cup engraving

NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly presented the Stanley Cup to Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog after Colorado's 2–1 win in Game 6. Fifty-two names were engraved on the Cup for the 2021–22 season. Ten amateur scouts, two development coaches, and additional team executives and staff were left off due to the 52-name limit, receiving championship rings instead. Eleven players on the roster did not qualify for engraving, none having played in the playoffs; Colorado did not request exemptions for any of them. Among those included in the team picture but not engraved were Jayson Megna, Jacob MacDonald, and Justus Annunen. Players not in the team picture and not engraved included Mikhail Maltsev, Dylan Sikura, Martin Kaut, Keaton Middleton, Jean-Luc Foudy, Roland McKeown, Hunter Miska, and Trent Miner.

Media rights

In Canada, the series was broadcast by Sportsnet and CBC Television in English and TVA Sports in French, with streaming on Sportsnet Now and Rogers NHL Live. In the United States, ABC televised the entire series and ESPN+ streamed it, marking the first year of a seven-year deal placing the Final on ABC in even years. This was ABC's first Final since 2004, and the first time the entire series aired on broadcast television since 1980. ABC's coverage averaged 4.6 million viewers, the highest since 2019.