Lightning’s Pat Maroon eyeing fourth straight Stanley Cup title

If the Tampa Bay Lightning are to make it a “three-peat” of Stanley Cup titles, for Pat Maroon, it will be that plus one more.

As the Lightning get set to face the Colorado Avalanche in Game 1 of the 2022 Stanley Cup Final Wednesday night, Maroon is on the cusp of his fourth straight championship.

Maroon’s run of 15 straight playoff series victories began in 2019 with his hometown St. Louis Blues defeating the Boston Bruins in seven games. That summer, he signed a one-year deal to join the Lightning and 13 months later he won his second straight Cup in the Edmonton bubble. A two-year extension to stay in Tampa Bay was signed weeks later and last July the forward claimed his third title in a row.

If the Lightning beat the Avalanche Maroon would become the first player to win four Stanley Cups in a row since 16 members of the New York Islanders dynasty teams of 1980-83 and the 45th in NHL history to do so.

“One seems crazy to me,” Maroon said during Stanley Cup Media Day on Tuesday. “Just to be a part of one is remarkable. There are guys that go years and play in the NHL 10, 12 years and don’t even get to the Stanley Cup Final let alone get to the conference final. It’s the hardest trophy to win in all sports, and to just win one is remarkable and crazy to me.

“And my first one with my hometown team. It’s crazy about what our Tampa Bay Lightning have been through. There’s no give up in our team. We give it everything we’ve got every single night, and that’s why our team’s had success these last few years.”

(If we’re looking ahead, 11 players — all Montreal Canadiens from the 1956-60 teams — have won five Cups in a row.)

Maroon still loves his hometown, so much so that on the Pat McAfee Show this week, he expressed his