In Tampa, the Lightning put a complete game display and eliminated the Florida Panthers in 4-0 a Game 6 win.
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 29 saves to get the shutout.
“We needed to get that first one. (We) had some great looks, great opportunities, some that we didn’t get on net that could have been the best quality chances we had,” Florida head coach Joel Quenneville said. “[Vasilevskiy] was great tonight. In this building we had three pretty good games as far as generating what we wanted to generate. We weren’t able to crack him tonight.”
Pat Maroon scored in the opening frame to give the Bolts all the offense they would need in the game.
“You’ve probably heard the fourth one is the toughest to win in a series, and when you have a chance to do it you don’t want to waste them,” Tampa Bay head coach Jon Cooper said. “We had a plan set. But the players … it was 60 minutes of sheer will and compete. And 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.”
Steve Stamkos scored in the middle frame to bump the lead to 2-0.
“It was our best effort by far in the playoffs in the biggest game that we’ve played so far,” Stamkos said. “That’s what experienced teams do in those situations. They step up when it’s time to step up. We didn’t like our game last time (4-1 loss in Game 5) and we talked about it. We have the best goalie in the world, and he shut the door.”
Brayden Point scored in the 15th minute of the third period to put the game out of reach at 3-0.
Alex Killorn added an empty-net goal to seal the win.
“Obviously disappointed. I thought we had our chances in this series, could have went either way,” the Panthers’ Jonathan Huberdeau said. “Early we’re down 2-0, could have went the other way. It’s going to take a little bit to swallow this one, but that’s the most fun I had this year. We had a good group, it just didn’t go our way in the first round.”
Spencer Knight made 20 saves in the loss.
“I think it was good to just get a taste of what playoffs are like,” Knight said. “But I think for me coming in, it wasn’t trying to stay in awe, I was trying to help the team win. That was my priority and goal and to have fun while I was doing it. A couple weeks after I’ll look back on it from that point of view, but right now it’s tough.”
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