Tampa Bay Lightning Win Stanley Cup Just Hours After TS Elsa Hammers Tampa Area

Just 24 hours after Hurricane Elsa threatened the greater Tampa area, the hometown Tampa Bay Lightning won the Stanley Cup in Southwest Florida. The Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Montreal Canadiens, 1-0, Wednesday night at Amalie Arena in Tampa.

The win comes just 12 hours after Tropical Storm Elsa threatened the Tampa-St. Petersburg shores and hit just north of the metropolitan area.

It also makes the Lightning the first NHL team to repeat as Stanley Cup champions, and it solidifies the town's crown of "Titletown."

This comes five months—to the day—after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers became the first NFL team to ever win a Super Bowl in their home stadium.

This means Tampa will keep its "Titletown" crown.

The Tampa Bay Lightning become the first NHL team to win back-to-back titles since the Pittsburgh Penguins of 2016 and 2017.

The Lightning had a chance to clinch the Stanley Cup on Monday with a sweep during Game 4 at Montreal, but the Canadiens prevailed in overtime. It would have been back-to-back Cup-clinching games on Canadian soil.

The NHL postponed its 2019-20 season because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the league resumed play entirely in Canada. The Lightning made it to the Cup Finals, where they defeated the Dallas Stars in six games (4-2).

Last NFL season, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the Super Bowl at Raymond James Stadium, becoming the first team to ever win the Super Bowl in their home stadium. In addition, the city's Tampa Bay Rays made it to the World Series last season before falling to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

This is a developing story.