Lightning finish series sweep of Panthers with 2-0 win in Game 4
The Tampa Bay Lightning advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals on Monday by finishing a four-game sweep of the Florida Panthers with a 2-0 win in Game 4.
Florida finished the regular season with the best record in the NHL and led the league in scoring, but scored just three goals across four games against the back-to-back defending Stanley Cup champions. On Monday, the Panthers put 49 shots on goal, but couldn't get any past Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy.
While the Lightning only put 25 shots on goal, the team found the back of the net four times, although the first two goals were disallowed. The first was waved off after a lengthy review determined play should've been blown dead when the puck bounced off the netting above the boards.
The second was disallowed after replay showed Anthony Cirelli set up Nikita Kucherov with a hand pass.
It wasn't until the third period that the Lightning finally scored a goal that counted when Patrick Maroon knocked down a puck behind Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky that trickled into the goal.
Ondrej Palat sealed the win with an empty-net goal with 23 seconds left.
Tampa Bay will next face the winner of a series between the Carolina Hurricanes and New York Rangers. The Hurricanes currently lead the series, 2-1, with Game 4 scheduled for Tuesday night.
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