Bouncing goal knocks Panthers out of playoffs

Andrei Vasilevskiy had 49 saves and the Tampa Bay Lightning completed a fourgame sweep of the Florida Panthers with a 2-0 victory Monday night in Tampa, Fla., that sent the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions back to the Eastern Conference finals for the sixth time in eight years.

Pat Maroon snapped a scoreless tie, batting Zach Bogosian’s shot down behind Florida goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky before the puck trickled into the net a little more than six minutes into the third period. Ondrej Palat added an empty-net goal with 22 seconds left.

Vasilevskiy won his sixth straight game, a streak that began with the Lightning facing a 3-2 series deficit in the opening round. It was his sixth shutout in his past seven series-clinching wins.

The reigning Conn Smythe Trophy winner limited the high-scoring Panthers, who averaged a NHL-best 4.11 goals while compiling the league’s best record during the regular season, to three goals in four games.

The Lightning joined the New York Islanders and Montreal Canadiens as the only franchises to win at least 10 consecutive playoff series. Their bid to become the first team in 40 years to capture three straight Stanley Cup titles will continue in the East finals against either the Carolina Hurricanes or New York Rangers.

The defending champs persevered Monday night despite having goals by Alex Killorn and Nikita Kucherov waved off within a 48-second span of the second period — the first after Florida coach Andrew Brunette challenged and a lengthy replay review determined Palat lifted the puck out of play along the boards before Mikhail Sergachev fired a shot that Killorn tipped past Bobrovsky.

Less than a minute later, Tampa Bay appeared to take the lead again only to have replay confirm Anthony Cirelli won a face-off in the left circle with a hand pass that Kucherov rifled through Bobrovsky.