Defending champs sweep Florida

TAMPA, FLA. » The Tampa Bay Lightning are running out of superlatives to describe Andrei Vasilevskiy’s dominance.

The reigning Conn Symthe Trophy winner delivered another stellar playoff performance for the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions on Monday night, stopping 49 shots to beat the Florida Panthers 2-0 and finish a fourgame sweep that sends them to the Eastern Conference final for the sixth time in eight years.

Pat Maroon snapped a scoreless tie, batting Zach Bogosian’s shot down behind Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky before the puck trickled into the net a little over 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 last seven series-clinching wins.

The 27-year-old goaltender nicknamed “Big Cat” posted his 57th career postseason victory, moving into a tie with Tuukka Rask for 17th on the all-time list. He’s allowed one or fewer goals in 28 of 87 playoff starts.

When Vasilevskiy began this postseason by yielding three or more goals in Tampa Bay’s first six games against the Maple Leafs, coach Jon Cooper said the Lightning’s confidence in him never wavered.

“I’m not so sure there’s much more I can say about him. It’s funny how the playoffs are five games into the Toronto series and you’re asking all these questions about what’s wrong with Vasilevsky,” Cooper said.

“It’s never a doubt in our locker room. A goalie’s job, if you want to be elite, is to give your team a chance to win,” the coach added. “When a goaltender gives your team a chance to win, it comes in a variety of ways. Tonight, it was he wasn’t letting anything in. And we’ve seen that time and time again.”

The high-scoring Panthers, who averaged a Nhl-best 4.11 goals per game while compiling the league’s best record during the regular season, were shut out for the first time all season. The Presidents’ Trophy winners finished with three goals in four games and wound up being outscored 13-3 in the series.

“They’re really good. I mean, they’re Stanley Cup champions for a reason, and their evolution of how they were once a high-flying kind of offensive team and they found their recipe how to win and they stick with it,” Florida interim coach Andrew Brunette said.

“Obviously, we aspire to be them, and this was another learning experience for us,” Brunette added. “We need to be better.”