Stanley Cup Final Game 1 was everything that is great about the Playoffs

Game 1 of the 2021 NHL Stanley Cup Final was a welcome reminder of everything great about the Playoffs.

The grand season finale got underway on Monday night as the Tampa Bay Lightning destroyed the Montreal Canadiens in a 5-1 win in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, and the contest itself summed up how great postseason hockey is.

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These Playoffs have been a welcome return to normality in that Amalie Arena was pretty much at full capacity for Game 1, although the fact that two Eastern Conference teams are slugging it out for the greatest prize on the planet is just perfect proof that we still live in strange times post COVID-19.

But, despite that, having fans back in buildings just makes this postseason that little bit more special and more familiar, and Game 1 itself was a fitting way to start a Stanley Cup Final that will prove that hockey and life as we knew it is finally back.

Perhaps motivated by many people’s desire to see the Canadiens win a first Stanley Cup since 1993, the Lightning came out swinging and they landed with every single punch they threw, demonstrating exactly why they are defending champions and why they are standing on the precipice of going-back-to-back.

Game 1 of Stanley Cup Final proved how great Playoff Hockey is

We were treated to more postseason magic from Nikita Kucherov who, benefiting from a regular season off due to injury, has elevated his mythical Playoffs legacy to a different stratosphere, finishing with a three-point night as the explosive Lightning offense did what they do best.

It was also great to see Steven Stamkos fully healthy and playing a big role in Game 1, scoring with his trademark snipe on the power play, after being restricted to just a few minutes in last year’s Stanley Cup Final due to various aliments.

There was great goaltending on display from Tampa Bay netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy, who cemented his status as a legit Conn Smythe contender with an 18-save performance, while we can probably look forward to a monster Carey Price game in the next couple of contests after the Canadiens veteran endured a rough night between the pipes.

We also witnessed the guts and the true essence of postseason hockey on Monday night – the blood and thunder that you can only get in the Playoffs.

From Brendan Gallagher sporting a look more suited for the boxing ring to both teams dishing out over 50 hits, this is what Playoffs hockey is all about and you can be confident that there will be an edge in Game 2 now that the Canadiens have got the jitters out of the way.

They will respond and they will come back hard at the Lightning who, while they boast the more talented and star-laden roster, will have to take their cuts too in this series and there will be plenty of more blows exchanged between Tampa and Montreal as this series unfolds.

That’s why we all love hockey, especially postseason hockey, and Game 1 of the 2021 Stanley Cup Final was the perfect encapsulation of everything that is great and sacred about this time of year, and Monday night was also a sign that we have one hell of a series on our hands.