NHL 22: Tampa Bay Lightning Tournament Champion Polgz

Ethan “Polgz” Polgar showed no mercy and was crowned the NHL 22 Tournament champion from the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday in Orlando.

Featured Image: Twitter, Bolts Gaming

This success notably allowed him to get his hands on a total sum of $6,000 US (approximately $7,640 CAD).

Going into the final rounds, four players were still in contention to win the tournament. Polgz first crossed swords with Finland’s Hansulinho and made short work of his rival by eliminating him two games to nil.

Hansulinho was unable to break through the Polgz wall in the first game and went down 2-0. The second game was more attacking with nine goals scored, but only three came from the European side . Result: Polgz advanced to the final with a 6-3 win. Here is one of the most beautiful games of this series, signed Polgz:

.@PolgzNHL ARE YOU KIDDING!??? pic.twitter.com/WcXRIz6o1t

— Bolts Gaming (@boltsgaming) February 12, 2022

On the other side, Josx tried to cause a surprise by eliminating the dangerous Eki. However, the mission got off to a bad start as the Finn imposed his law in the first duel with a bitter 5-0 shutout.

However, awakening Josx’s inner beast in this way might not have been the best strategy to adopt. In the next match, Josx was the first to open the scoring and did not fall behind, tying the series with a 4-3 win.

Then, in the ultimate match for a place in the Grand Finals, Josx picked up where he left off and served the same medicine Eki served him earlier by shutting him out 3-0.

In the big final, Josx thus found Polgz, who had not yet experienced defeat in the final rounds. The streak of the latter also continued from the first duel, a close match during which the two players did everything to avoid mistakes. Polgz took the lead in the series with a precious 1-0 win.

We could therefore have expected the style of play to be a little more open for the second game and that is exactly what happened. Six goals were scored in a 4-2 win by Josx, which forced a final match for the $6,000 grand prize.

Polgz, however, reminded everyone why he hadn’t lost in the final rounds before and delivered an ideal performance in the third and final game of this grand final to win 4-2 and be crowned tournament champion.

Remember also that the Quebecer Michaël « miviens » Viens had been eliminated in a heartbreaking way by the finalist Josx, in the round of 16 of the tournament, a few weeks ago. With only 3.2 seconds left in their match for a place in the quarter-finals, Josx tied the game and then eliminated the Quebecer in overtime.

Note that this was the first NHL 22 one-on-one tournament to be held face-to-face (LAN) in two years on the NHL esports scene.