Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper says Vegas is a success, not a Cinderella story.

In the hours leading up to Monday's potential series-clinching game against the Washington Capitals, Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper met with reporters.

The main topic had nothing to do with Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals, where the Lightning could eliminate the Capitals and head to the Stanley Cup finals.

Rather, it had everything to do with the history-making Vegas Golden Knights, the first expansion team to reach the Stanley Cup finals in 50 years.

The St. Louis Blues made it that far in their inaugural season of 1967-68.

"It's a success story is what it is, it's not a Cinderella story," Cooper told reporters. "There's been talk of 'how could that happen' or whatever. I'll tell you how it happened: They got an owner that hired an unreal [general manager] and they got an unreal GM that hired an unreal coach. They were all left to do their jobs. They were given a framework to work with. They could've screwed it up or they could've done really well, and they chose to do really well. They played within the rules that were given to them, and this is what you get."

Lightning winger Chris Kunitz also weighed in on Vegas eliminating Winnipeg in the Western Conference finals Sunday.

"Crazy storyline," Kunitz told reporters.

Crazy or not, the Knights are set to face either the Lightning or Capitals for the Stanley Cup.

Tampa Bay leads the Caps 3-2 after winning three straight games in the series, and the Lightning can close it out in Washington D.C. on Monday.

The Lightning lost two regular season meetings with the Golden Knights.

This story was originally published May 21, 2018 at 5:14 PM with the headline "Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper says Vegas is a success, not a Cinderella story.."