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Pat Maroon and Ondrej Palat scored goals and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped all 49 shots he faced as the Lightning shut out the Panthers 2-0 in Game 4 Monday at Amalie Arena to sweep the second-round series.
Tampa Bay advanced to the Eastern Conference final for a third straight season and sixth in the past eight. It will play the winner of the Hurricanes-Rangers series, which Carolina leads 2-1.
The Lightning won despite being outshot 49-25 and having two goals disallowed in the second period.
Florida won a challenge for a missed game stoppage after it was determined the puck left the playing surface and went into the netting prior to an apparent Alex Killorn goal.
Two minutes later, a seeming Nikita Kucherov goal was disallowed after it was determined that Anthony Cirelli moved the puck to Kucherov with a hand pass.
Here’s how it happened:
Third period
Gustav Forsling wrist shot saved by Vasilevskiy
Hagel wrist shot saved by Bobrovsky
Bennett wrist shot saved by Vasilevskiy
Giroux wrist shot saved by Vasilevskiy
Palat misses the net on a 3-on-2
Cernak shot from the right point goes wide
Killorn wrist shot saved by Bobrovsky
Weegar shot from left point saved by Vasilevskiy
LIGHTNING GOAL! Pat Maroon bats the puck out of the air, and it trickles off the back of Bobrovsky into the net. (13:44 left) Lightning 1, Panthers 0.
Barkov penalized for high-sticking Hedman
Perry shot from the slot saved by Bobrovsky
Stamkos getting stitched up on the bench after running face-first into the back of Lundell
Weegar penalized for cross-checking Killorn
Perry shot blocked by Barkov
Kucherov shot misses wide
Bobrovsky robs Palat at the right post
McDonagh shot blocked out of the zone
Montour blocks Kucherov shot from the slot
Barkov shot from right circle goes off the post (4:57 left)
Puck shot along the sideboards deflects off the helmet of a linesman and Vasilevskiy has to be quick with his stick to keep it from going in the net
Palat picks off a pass below the Panthers goal line, and Tampa Bay kills some time
Palat penalized for delay of game after shooting puck over the boards from his own end (2:30 left)
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Explore all your optionsBarkov shot by Vasilevskiy, as is Hornqvist’s rebound attempt
Bobrovsky leaves the net for an extra attacker, 6-on-4 advantage for Florida
Hedman shoots wide of the empty net
Forsling shot from center point saved by Vasilevskiy
LIGHTNING GOAL! Cirelli clears the puck down the ice and it bounces off the end boards to Palat, who skates the puck into an empty net. LIGHTNING 2, PANTHERS 0
(Lightning win 2-0, clinch series 4-0)
Second period
The Panthers will have 35 seconds remaining on the power play from the Kucherov penalty
Bobrovskiy stops Kucherov on a breakaway and a Cirelli follow-up attempt
Verhaeghe penalized for cross-checking Sergachev
Reinhart wrist shot saved by Vasilevskiy
Perry wrist shot saved by Bobrovsky
Panthers kill the penalty; no Lightning shots on the power play
Chance for Bennett in front after centering pass from Verhaeghe
Bennett fans on shot from right circle after cross-ice pass from Huberdeau
Ekblad drive goes off the shaft of a stick
Hagel blocks a shot
Verhaeghe hits both posts with a shot from the inner right circle
LIGHTNING GOAL DISALLOWED: Alex Killorn tips in a Mikhail Sergachev shot from the center point. But Florida won a challenge for a missed game stoppage after it was determined the puck left the playing surface and went into the netting prior to the goal.
Huberdeau shot turned aside by Vasilevskiy
Chiarot shot from the point hits Bennett, who is hurting on the bench
Hagel has a breakaway opportunity, but the puck rolls on him
LIGHTNING GOAL DISALLOWED: Kucherov snaps a shot over Bobrovsky’s goal from the left circle after a faceoff win by Cirelli in the offensive zone (9:28 left). But the goal is disallowed after replays show Cirelli moved the puck to Kucherov with a hand pass.
Paul rings a shot off the goalpost
Bobrovsky makes a save on Hedman drive
Bobrovsky makes save on Killorn
Gudas hurting after making diving play to keep the puck in at the offensive blue line
Vasilevskiy robs Bennett at the right post
Ekblad penalized for interference on Kucherov
Panthers kill the penalty
Pressure from Kucherov forces an errant short from Reinhart on a 2-on-1 for Florida
(Lightning and Panthers tied 0-0 after two periods)
First period
Andrei Vasilevskiy makes save on Claude Giroux tip-in attempt
Maxim Mamin breaks up Steven Stamkos centering pass for Nikita Kucherov
Aleksander Barkov deflection saved by Vasilevskiy
Sam Reinhart wrist shot saved by Vasilevskiy
Brandon Montour snapshot saved by Vasilevskiy
Mikhail Sergachev blocks Ben Chiarot shot
Gustav Forsling shot blocked by Cal Foote
Ryan McDonagh shot wide of the net
Brandon Montour shot from left point saved by Vasilevskiy
Jonathan Huberdeau breaks up centering pass
Ondrej Palat shot blocked by Aaron Ekblad
Zach Bogosian wrist shot saved by Sergei Bobrovsky
Ekblad shot blocked by Nick Paul
MacKenzie Weegar shot blocked by Paul
Vasilevskiy stops Ekblad shot after give-and-go
Huberdeau shot blocked by Foote
Huberdeau misses the net
Bobrovsky saves Anthony Cirelli shot on 3-on-2
Radko Gudas takes a run at Ross Colton but loses his edge, then gets up and hits Hagel
Reinhart shot from the left circle goes off Vasilevskiy’s mask and out of play
Vasilevskiy makes a save, and then Carter Verhaeghe misses the net on a rebound attempt
Cirelli goes hard to the net and runs into Bobrovsky. Cirelli does not try to avoid the contact and is penalized for goaltender interference (10:34 left)
Ekblad blast from the left point blocked by Ryan McDonagh
Ekblad shot blocked by Erik Cernak
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare clears the puck out of the zone
Lightning kill the penalty
Bennett shot blocked by McDonagh
Backhand shot by Paul goes up over the net off Bobrovsky after a giveaway by Florida (under 7 minutes left)
Verhaeghe keeps Kucherov backhander away from McDonagh
Vasilevskiy saves Ekblad shot from the left circle, then gives Vasilevskiy a quick slap with his stick
Vasilevskiy saves Chiarot shot from the center point
Weegar shot blocked by Hedman
Weegar backhand shot blocked by Vasilevskiy
Girioux shot blocked by Jan Rutta
Gudas shot saved by Vasilevskiy
Paul shot from left circle misses the net
Lundell shot from left point saved by Vasilevskiy
Kucherov fans on one-timer from right circle
Vasilevskiy stops Gudas at the right post
Kucherov penalized for slashing Gudas on the backcheck (1:25 left)
Vasilevskiy makes save on Verhaeghe from right circle
Hornqvist shot from in close stopped by Vasilevskiy
Cirelli blocks a shot, and Lightning clear the puck
(Lightning and Panthers tied 0-0 after one period)
Pregame scouting report
Unbelievable, right?
Beat the Panthers tonight, and the Lightning will advance to the Eastern Conference final for a third consecutive season. They’ll also be halfway to the 16 postseason wins needed to clinch a third straight Stanley Cup championship.
But that’s only half of the story, as Tampa Bay has been the dominant team in the NHL for much of the past decade.
Eliminate the Panthers and the Lightning, who lead the series 3-0, will secure their sixth conference final appearance in the past eight seasons.
In addition to their back-to-back Cups and loss in the 2015 final, they came within a victory of advancing to the Cup final in 2016 and ‘18, as close as a goal when they fell to the Penguins in the 2016 conference final.
Now, that’s dominance.
The Lightning had to add grit to their lineup and commit to defense to succeed in the playoffs. But their core — Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Victor Hedman, Alex Killorn, Ondrej Palat — has been together for most of that run.
And judging by their past several performances, they have no intention of exiting this postseason any time soon.
Tampa Bay has allowed just one goal in each of its past four playoff games, eliminating Toronto in seven games in the opening round and pushing Presidents’ Trophy-winning Florida to the brink in the second.
In the absence of star center Brayden Point (lower-body injury), Kucherov has stepped up with seven points in the series, including four in a 5-1 victory Sunday in Game 3. Corey Perry leads the team with three goals in the series and is tied with Ross Colton for the team playoff lead with five.
The Lightning have killed nine of 10 penalties and scored on 4 of 11 opportunities with the man-advantage.
But the story of the series has been sacrifice, as Tampa Bay has blocked 59 shots over the three games, including 24 in a 2-1 win in Game 2. When shots do get through to the net, Vasilevskiy has been there to stop them, saving 102 of 105.
Follow our live updates throughout Game 4 tonight at Amalie Arena, as the Lightning get the first of four chances to knock off the Panthers.
Game day scene
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