[4] Under a normal playoff format, this finals matchup would be impossible, as both the Lightning and Canadiens compete in the NHL's Eastern Conference.

[6] The COVID-19 pandemic impacted the league for the second straight year with the Government of Canada maintaining its cross-border travel restrictions.

[7] The league explored the possibility of having the Canadian team that advanced to the third round hold their home games in a neutral NHL city in the U.S. but were granted a cross-border travel exemption approved by the Public Health Agency of Canada.

[12][13] The Canadiens were permitted to issue 3,500 tickets for the Bell Centre after Quebec health officials denied the team's request to increase it to 10,500 fans (50 percent of capacity) before game three.

They have won the Stanley Cup a record twenty-four times (the second most championships in major North American sports behind the New York Yankees' twenty-seven World Series victories).

They traded away Braydon Coburn and Cedric Paquette and let Zach Bogosian, Kevin Shattenkirk and Carter Verhaeghe walk via free agency.

In the second period, the Lightning grabbed a 2–0 lead when Blake Coleman's shot through traffic deflected off of Yanni Gourde and into the net.

The Canadiens then halved the Lightning's lead as their offensive-zone coverage swept Tampa Bay's end setting up Ben Chiarot for a one-timer and Montreal's first goal of the game.

After Brayden Point won a faceoff, the puck was picked up by Kucherov who fired a wrist shot past Price to gain a 4–1 lead.

On the ensuing power-play, Kucherov passed to captain Steven Stamkos whose shot got past Price for a 5–1 lead, sealing the victory for the Lightning.

In the second period, Montreal had more than double the shots of Tampa Bay, yet the Lightning ended up with two goals in contrast to the Canadiens' one.

After Lightning defenceman Mikhail Sergachev committed an interference penalty on Artturi Lehkonen, Montreal tied the score on a power-play when Nick Suzuki floated a backhand shot through traffic and under Andrei Vasilevskiy's pads.

In the third period, Montreal continued to pressure the Lightning and Vasilevskiy, however, after a dump-in by Tampa Bay ended up in the Canadiens' zone, an errant pass off the boards by Joel Edmundson gave the puck away to Ondrej Palat, scoring the goal that made it 3–1.

At 3:33, the Lightning began another two-on-one rush during which Mathieu Joseph's shot rebounded to Tyler Johnson who scored to give Tampa Bay a 4–1 lead.

Nick Suzuki, who drove down the right side of Tampa Bay's defensive zone, shot the puck under Vasilevskiy's pads.

In the final five minutes, the Lightning gained a three-goal lead again when defenceman Erik Gustafsson gave the puck away to Johnson and he scored his second goal of the game.

In the first period, the Canadiens scored first, taking their first lead in the series, as Nick Suzuki made a pretty passing play to Josh Anderson who fired it past Andrei Vasilevskiy.

The Lightning tied it five minutes later when Mathieu Joseph sprung a two-on-one with Patrick Maroon and the latter scored, ending his goal-scoring drought.

In overtime, the Canadiens killed a double-minor penalty caused by Shea Weber and less than a minute later, Anderson put the puck past Vasilevskiy, preventing the first four-game sweep in the Finals since 1998, and winning the game 3–2.

Tampa Bay dominated during the first period of game five, recording thirteen shots on target to the Canadiens' four, but neither team scored.

Nevertheless, it was Tampa Bay who scored the opening goal, when Ryan McDonagh set up a David Savard shot that was tipped in by Ross Colton.

Patrick Maroon won the Stanley Cup in three consecutive seasons, a feat which hadn't occurred since multiple members of the 1983 New York Islanders accomplished it.

In Canada, this was the seventh consecutive Stanley Cup Finals broadcast by Sportsnet and CBC Television in English, and TVA Sports in French.

[57][58] McGuire meanwhile, was hired by the Ottawa Senators as the team's senior vice-president of player development on July 12,[59] having gone nearly three full decades without a managerial job in the NHL.

[60] The series averaged 3.6 million people on Sportsnet and CBC, making it the most watched Finals in Canada since the last time a Canadian team advanced this far in 2011.