In Toronto, the Tampa Bay Lightning needed double overtime to end their second round series with the Boston Bruins on Monday night.
Victor Hedman used a screen to deliver the game-winning goal off a wrist shot from the right circle.
“Obviously, a great feeling. We battled really hard today,” Hedman said. “We’re very happy, as a group, to move to the conference final.”
The goal came at 14:10 of the second extra session.
“If you want to advance, you have to win these games. That’s all there is to it. It was gutsy,” Tampa head coach Jon Cooper said after Tampa Bay improved to 4-0 in overtime during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. “We were doing a lot of the right things, but we needed every bit of energy to get through that first overtime. Tongues were dragging.
“Regardless of the score, I’m proud of this team. They’ve done everything we’ve asked of them this year.”
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 45 saves to get the win.
David Pastrnak had a goal that tied the game 1-1 after Ondrej Palat had given the Bolts a 1-0 lead.
“This team is resilient,” Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy said. “We’re disappointed. We thought we were the better team tonight. We wanted to play on. Put ourselves in a hole, obviously, but felt we played well enough to win tonight, get it to Game 6, and then see what happens from there.”
Anthony Cirelli‘s strike at 12:03 of the third gave the Lightning a 2-1 lead.
“It was a lot of adversity in different fashions tonight,” the Lightning’s Ryan McDonagh said. “Probably wasn’t as pretty as we would have liked. That’s how it goes sometimes. Really proud of everybody picking each other up.”
David Krejci forced overtime on a goal with 2:33 left in regulation.
“It’s just kind of a little sad right now,” Krejci said. “At the same time, I don’t regret coming into this bubble and fighting for the Stanley Cup. If I had to do it again, I would.”
[WATCH: All Bruins vs. Lightning highlights]
Jaroslav Halakmade 32 saves in the series-ending loss.
“It’s a very disappointing finish. We had a great year,” Boston”s Brad Marchand said. “We expected better out of this year. We thought we had a chance. I mean, Tampa’s a great team, don’t get me wrong. I don’t want to take anything away from them. They’re a great team.
“The way things were rolling throughout the season, we thought we were going to go all the way. … We walk away without anything to show for it. So it’s tough.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.