Lightning claim Battle of Florida with series-clinching shutout of Panthers
Reigning Cup champions await winner of Hurricanes-Predators in 2nd round
Andrei Vasilevskiy wrapped up a series with a Game 6 shutout for the second straight time, stopping 29 shots in the Tampa Bay Lightning's 4-0 victory over the Florida Panthers on Wednesday night.
Vasilevskiy also shut out the Dallas Stars last year to win the Stanley Cup.
The Lightning advanced to face the Carolina-Nashville winner in the second round.
Rookie Spencer Knight, back in net for Florida after his strong playoff debut in Game 5, finished with 20 saves.
Tampa Bay advanced to the second round for the fifth time in the past seven years, showing they know what it takes to win and advance in postseason, improving to 9-0 in the next game following a playoff loss dating back to last season.
"It was 60 minutes of just sure will and compete," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "To win in this league, that's what you need. When you make the playoffs, you need it from everybody. The players gave it. They get all the credit in the world. They stayed in the fight, they worked their tails off, they were rewarded for it.
"To close teams out, especially one as talented and well-coached as Florida was, you don't want to risk going to Game 7. That's a hell of a team over there, but the boys played like champions today."
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The Panthers haven't won a playoff series since the 1996 Eastern Conference Finals.
"Obviously, I'm disappointed," said Florida forward Jonathan Huberdeau, who finished the series with 10 points. "I thought we had our chances in the series. Could've went either way. Early we were down 2-0, it could've went the other way. You want to win. You play hockey to win."
The Lightning grabbed the early lead when Tyler Johnson raced past Anton Stralman to negate an icing call, picked up the puck behind the net to feed a backhand pass in front. After the puck initially bounced, Maroon was able to get a whack at in the air to backhand it past Knight at 6:16 of the first period.
In a familiar looking play, Nikita Kucherov fed the puck up high to Victor Hedman who one-touched a pass over to Stamkos at the left circle for a one-timer at 13:27 of the second period.
"We came in confident," Stamkos said. "We know how to win in these situations. We fed off an amazing crowd, and we got the job done. It was almost just a clinical game in terms of executing the game plan. It was fun to be part of."
Point put it away at 14:36 of the third, dancing around MacKenzie Weegar down low and drawing Knight to the ice before tucking the puck around the goaltenders left pad, putting the final touches on a Lightning victory that stood out for all the ways a team with championship pedigree performing in all the small details that often lead to the final result.
"That's what it takes to win," Cooper said. "Because of the effort, and the energy, it's draining what you go through, the war of attrition. And in the end, it's the compete level that gets you there. And you can't let it go because if you get out-willed in a game, you're probably not going to win. Our boys would not let that happen tonight."
