Lightning send Bruins packing

LIGHTNING 3, BRUINS 1

TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Lightning, with a primary assist from a team that handled them during the regular season, are back in the Eastern Conference final for the third time in four years.

“I guess I can say it now. Boston set the bar for us, and we played them three times late in the year,” Lightning Coach Jon Cooper said after his team’s 3-1 victory over the Bruins ended their second-round playoff series in five games.

“The first two times we played them, they literally manhandled us. … and we knew if we were going to go anywhere when we made the playoffs, or if we made the playoffs, that we had to be as good as Boston,” Cooper added.

“We beat them 4-0 [in the last meeting]. I think that gave us a little hit of confidence. I guess a lot of confidence. … and, ultimately we carried that through into this playoff round.”

Brayden Point and J.T. Miller scored second-period goals and Anton Stralman added an empty-netter with 1:29 remaining to end any

chance for a Boston comeback.

Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 27 shots — 14 in the final period — for the Lightning, who rebounded from losing the series opener at home to eliminate the Bruins in five games.

GOLDEN KNIGHTS 3, SHARKS 0

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Marc-Andre Fleury made 28 saves in his fourth shutout of the playoffs and the expansion Vegas Golden Knights are headed to the Western Conference Final in their inaugural season after beating the San Jose Sharks in Game 6 of their second-round series.

Jonathan Marchessault opened the scoring, Nate Schmidt added an insurance goal that was only detectable by replay and Cody Eakin sealed it with an empty-netter to help Vegas become just the third team in NHL history to win multiple series in its first season.

The Toronto Arenas won the Stanley Cup in the first postseason in league history in 1918 and St. Louis won two rounds to win the all-expansion West Division in 1968.