Victor Hedman and his Tampa Bay are one step closer to a Stanley Cup hat-trick.

The team took home the dent both last year and the year before.

- We can not relax in old experiences, but of course use them, Victor Hedman said before the meeting.

Stamko's match hero

Steven Stamko's two goals against Rangers at home were enough to secure the final place this year again.

- It was everything I thought it would be and a little more.

Giving ourselves the opportunity to play the final three years in a row is absolutely incredible, and to have played a role in it tonight is really like icing on the cake, says Stamkos according to AFP.

Stamkos scored the first goal in the middle of the second period - a shot from one of the technical circles.

Rangers equalized via Frank Vatrano in the second half of the third but only half a minute later Stamko was in front again.

Tonight's 2-1 win gave Tampa Bay a 4-2 win in the semifinal series - despite starting with two straight losses.

- We fought hard.

I'm proud of our guys.

We gave them one match each time, Rangers coach Gerard Gallant sums up the semifinal series.

Meets Colorado

Ondrej Palat is noted for assisting on both Stamko's goals and Andrei Vasilevsky saved 20 shots.

Tampa Bay could become the first team to win the Stanley Cup three years in a row since the New York Islanders won four in a row in the early 1980s.

In the final, they meet Colorado, with Swedish Gabriel Landeskog, who undefeated made it through his semifinal series against Edmonton.

The final series, which like all others in the playoffs is decided in the best of seven, starts in Colorado the night before Thursday Swedish time.

Target party in the NHL when Colorado won (June 1):

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Colorado leads the match series 1-0.

Photo: Bildbyrån