'Quest for the Stanley Cup' goes behind scenes of Final

In the fourth episode of "Quest for the Stanley Cup," which premiered Wednesday on ESPN+ in the United States and on
YouTube
in Canada, it's clear that the end is in sight for the teams remaining. The conference finals are ending, the Stanley Cup Final begins, and the ultimate goal is tantalizingly close.

The show, which gives viewers an all-access look behind the scenes of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and life inside the playoff bubble, starts with these words from Dallas Stars coach Rick Bowness, uttered near the end of the Western Conference Final: "The goal is to get by this series and take a run at the Stanley Cup. That's been the objective since we came back to camp in July and we're not taking our eyes off that. We came here to win the Stanley Cup and that's our objective."
The fourth episode looks at how taxing it has been for the players and teams to get to this point, where the Tampa Bay Lightning and Stars are the only two of the original 24 teams remaining.
By this point of life in the bubble, it's the little things that matter.
Like grass.
"This is the first time we've seen grass, touched grass in about eight weeks," Stars center Joe Pavelski says in a lighter moment during Dallas' outing to a golf driving range. The players arrived in the bubble in Edmonton for the playoffs on July 26.
Though the golf provides a diversion, it's the hockey that matters, especially at this point in the season. The episode details the end of the Western Conference Final, where the Stars knock out the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 5 with a 3-2 overtime win, and the emotions that come with moving one step closer.
"I'm getting old," Bowness says after the game. "I'm running out of time."
On the other side, in the Eastern Conference Final, the Lightning manage to outlast the New York Islanders with a 2-1 overtime victory in Game 6 on a goal by center Anthony Cirelli that propels them into the Final. After the win, they ignore superstition and touch the Prince of Wales Trophy. Injured captain Steven Stamkos carries it into the dressing room and sets it up where it sits, looming, with coach Jon Cooper giving his postgame speech.
The coach kisses the trophy before leaving the room.

Ultimately, though, as the episode makes clear, that's not the trophy that will satisfy either the Lightning or the Stars. They have their sights set on something greater: the Stanley Cup.
"We've been in a hotel for 54 straight days," Cooper said. "It might be one of the hardest Cups ever to win."
And the time for the Stanley Cup Final comes more quickly than usual. Two days after the Lightning finish off the Islanders, they've completed a Media Day without media present, and are on to Game 1 against the Stars, which Dallas wins, 4-1.
At this point, there are no more than six games remaining and the Cup is at hand.
As NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman says to Stars captain Jamie Benn, while passing in the hallway before Game 1, "Home stretch. Good luck."