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. Thus it became the first Stanley Cup Finals to be played in the month of September.
This was the first Stanley Cup Finals since to be played entirely outside the Eastern Time Zone, the first since to be played entirely in one location, the first since to be played entirely in Canada, and the first since to have the Stanley Cup awarded in a Canadian arena. This was the first Stanley Cup Finals since 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.
Paths to the finals
Return to play
On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 to be a pandemic, and later that day, the National Basketball Association suspended all games after players tested positive for the disease. One day later, the NHL announced that the 2019–20 season had been paused indefinitely. On May 22, the league and the NHLPA agreed on a basic framework to stage a 24-team playoff tournament behind closed doors, conducted in two neutral "hub" cities to help protect teams from the virus. The details of the plan were announced publicly on May 26. The seeds would be based on each club's points percentage when the season paused on March 12, effectively scrapping the remainder of the regular season. In the opening round of the 24-team playoff format, the top four teams in each conference played each other in a separate Seeding Round-robin to determine the seeding in the first round. The eight lower seeded teams in each conference played in the qualifying round, a best-of-five series to advance to the next round. The first round through to the finals remained as best-of-seven series. On July 10, along with the ratification of an extension to the collective bargaining agreement, the NHL and the NHLPA formally agreed to begin the playoffs on August 1 (concluding no later than early October), with games being hosted by Edmonton (Western Conference early rounds, Conference Finals, and Stanley Cup Finals) and Toronto (Eastern Conference early rounds). U.S. cities were also considered, but were passed over after several U.S. states experienced a spike in COVID-19 cases in late June.
Dallas Stars
This was the franchise's fifth appearance in the finals. They won the Stanley Cup in 1999 before losing the finals in 2000. They also made two appearances as the Minnesota North Stars in 1981 and 1991.
During the offseason, Dallas signed forwards Corey Perry and Joe Pavelski as well as defenceman Andrej Sekera in free agency. The team also re-signed defenceman Taylor Fedun and forward Jason Dickinson. The team made no trades during the regular season.
On December 10, 2019, head coach Jim Montgomery was dismissed due to "unprofessional conduct inconsistent with the core values and beliefs" of both the team and the league, and was replaced by Rick Bowness. Before joining the Stars organization, Bowness had served as associate coach with the Lightning from 2013 to 2018.
When the regular season was suspended on March 12, 2020, the Stars had a 37–24–8 record and a .594 points percentage to finish third in the Central Division and fourth in the Western Conference. After play resumed in the hubs, Dallas placed third in the Round Robin. The Stars then defeated the Calgary Flames in six games in the first round, the Colorado Avalanche in seven games in the second round, and the Vegas Golden Knights in five games in the Western Conference Finals.
Tampa Bay Lightning
This was the Tampa Bay Lightning's third appearance in the finals. They won the Stanley Cup in 2004 before losing the finals in 2015.