3 reasons the Tampa Bay Lightning didn't win the Stanley Cup

Tampa Bay had no answer for Aleksander Barkov in the final game

The Tampa Bay Lightning went down 3-0 to the Panthers but they found a way to win game four. A team with championship pedigree like that usually can plant a seed of doubt by winning the fourth game like that.

However, they had no answer for Aleksander Barkov in game number five. He hasn't been the best playoff performer despite being a Hall of Fame caliber player in the regular season up to this point.

In this final game of the series, Barkov went off. He scored twice and had an assist for three total points. It was his first three-point game in the playoffs and his first multi-goal game in the playoffs. For a guy that has played in so many of them now, it is a bit surprising.

If Tampa Bay had an answer for him in game five, we might be talking about them potentially tying the series in game six. It just wasn't in the cards for them.