The Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Florida Panthers 2-0 Monday night to sweep the four-game series and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Pat Maroon and Ondrej Palat, in an empty net, blackened the scoresheet for the Lightning, which won a 10th consecutive series.
Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped all 49 shots he faced, earning his first shutout of the playoffs.
His opponent, Sergei Bobrovsky, made 23 saves for the Panthers, the NHL’s best team in the regular season.
Head coach Jon Cooper’s men worked hard before they could finally open the scoring.
Alex Killorn, midway through the second period, then Anthony Cirelli, two minutes later, saw their respective nets disallowed by the referees after the video replay.
It was finally Maroon who put the Lightning on the board, 6:16 into the third period. It was his second goal of the playoffs, and veteran Zack Bogosian had an assist on the streak.
Then, as the final minutes of the game ticked away, the Panthers were given a power play courtesy of Palat. The latter received a penalty for delaying the game by sending the puck into the stands, while trying to clear his territory.
Head coach Andrew Brunette’s men knocked on Vasilevskiy’s door a few times, but were never able to outsmart him.
Then, Cirelli jumped on a loose puck and cleared his territory. Palat, fresh from the dungeon, collected the rubber in Panthers territory before shooting it into an empty net, with 23 seconds left in the game.
The Panthers were officially on vacation.
For its part, the Lightning continues on its way. He is the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion.