Lightning 4, Canadiens 1
TAMPA, Fla. -- Having lost two straight, facing the possibility of a Game 7 on the road, the Tampa Bay Lightning buckled down Tuesday night and did what they do best -- win hockey games at home.
Goalie Ben Bishop stopped the first 18 shots he faced and the Lightning eliminated the Montreal Canadiens from the Eastern Conference playoffs with a 4-1 win at Amalie Arena, taking the series 4-2 and advancing to the conference finals for just the third time in their history.
Tampa Bay, which had seen a 3-0 series lead shrink to 3-2, bounced back and played with confidence, despite having to go without right winger Ryan Callahan, sidelined after an emergency appendectomy Monday night. Fans proudly held up signs with his "24" jersey number in the stands, and his teammates played like a team with purpose.
Three more goals from the Lightning's red-hot line of right winger Nikita Kucherov, left winger Ondrej Palat and center Tyler Johnson started and ended the Tampa Bay scoring. Kucherov opened the scoring in the first period and closed it out with an empty netter late in the third. Palat scored in the second period, as did center Steven Stamkos, making the score 3-0 heading into the third.
Bishop outdueled Montreal goalie Carey Price, who had stepped up in the Canadiens' two wins. Tampa Bay didn't give up a goal until Montreal left winger Max Pacioretty scored with 4:57 left in the final period.
Kucherov started things when he redirected a wide shot from Palat. The the puck squeezed just between Price and the near post for a 1-0 lead with 4:25 left in the first period.
Stamkos doubled the Lightning advantage just over five minutes into the second when he took a pass from forward Alex Killorn and beat Price with a wicked wrister from the slot through a defender for his third goal of the playoffs. Killorn picked up his sixth assist on the play.
Landing a power play with 1:22 left in the second period, the Lightning took advantage quickly, as Palat scored his third of the playoffs with 1:04 left, the assist coming on a drop pass from Kucherov.
The Lightning await the winner of Wednesday night's Game 7 between the New York Rangers and Washington Capitals. Games 1 and 2 will be in Tampa with a Capitals win, or in New York if the Rangers advance.
NOTES: The Lightning played without RW Ryan Callahan, who was hospitalized Monday and underwent an emergency appendectomy. He was released Tuesday morning but was a pregame scratch. There is no immediate timetable for his return. ... The Lightning had D Mark Barberio, LW Jonathan Drouin and C Vladislav Namestnikov as healthy scratches, with rookie C Jonathan Marchessault making his playoff debut. ... Montreal opted to play RW Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau (seven previous games in the 2015 playoffs) and D Nathan Beaulieu (four), with C Brian Flynn (six) and D Greg Pateryn (seven) as scratches.