Lightning shut out Panthers in Game 4, sweep Eastern Second Round series

TAMPA -- Andrei Vasilevskiy made 49 saves, and the Tampa Bay Lightning swept the Florida Panthers with a 2-0 win in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Second Round at Amalie Arena on Monday.

Vasilevskiy's shutout was his sixth in a series-clinching win, the most in NHL history.
"Nothing special really," Vasilevskiy said. "I think the way the whole team plays in those games, the whole series, constant blocked shots, sacrifices, the boys clearly breaking bones to stop the puck. Such a great effort by everybody on our team. Obviously, it's not just me. I am just trying to do my job the best that I can."
The two-time defending Stanley Cup champions have won 10 straight playoff series, joining the New York Islanders (19 straight from 1980-1984) and Montreal Canadiens (13 from 1975-1980; 10 from 1955-1960) as the only teams to win 10 or more consecutive series in the postseason.
"To sit here and think we're in the (same) breath of the greatest teams that have played this game and the amount, because that's when you're really measured, right?" Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "What do you do in the playoffs, and to win 10 series in a row, and what does that put us top three all-time."
RELATED: [Complete Panthers vs. Lightning series coverage]
Tampa Bay will face either the Carolina Hurricanes or New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference Final. It's the sixth time the Lightning have advanced to the conference final in the past eight seasons.
"It's a special group, no doubt," Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said. "The beauty of the group is that we're not satisfied. We want 12 straight [series]."
Pat Maroon and Ondrej Palat scored for the Lightning, the No. 3 seed from the Atlantic Division.
Tampa Bay has won six straight playoff games and has not allowed a third-period goal in that stretch.
"It's special to be a part of this group," Lightning forward Alex Killorn said. "Like I said with 'Vasy,' I think there's a lot of players on this team that will go down as some pretty good players, Hall of Fame players. So I'm just happy to be a part of it, to be honest."

Sergei Bobrovsky made 23 saves for the Panthers, who were shut out for the first time this season. Florida was the No. 1 seed from the Atlantic and won the Presidents' Trophy as the NHL team with the best regular-season record.
"I thought it was the best game we played as a 60-minute game," Panthers coach Andrew Brunette said. "Looked like us. I'm not sure if our backs were that far off the wall and there was no pressure, but we played like we played all year tonight, and that wasn't always the case in the other nine (playoff) games, where we showed flashes of it, but the 60-minute game at that pace looked like us."
Maroon gave Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead at 6:16 of the third period when he batted in a point shot from Zach Bogosian that rolled behind Bobrovsky into the net.
"We were in a good position going into the third period, a 0-0 game," Maroon said. "We still had an opportunity to win, and we just had to find a way to squeak one by, and we did. Obviously it was an ugly goal, but that's playoff hockey for you."
Palat scored an empty-net goal at 19:37 for the 2-0 final shortly after he exited the penalty box.
"Tonight, I thought we did a really good job of enforcing the game plan that we set out to for tonight," Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad said. "Obviously, it just wasn't enough. We got our chances. We just didn't capitalize on those scoring chances that are so dire.
"It's a tough pill to swallow. Getting swept is tough. It hurts. It stings. There's no doubt about it."

The Panthers were 0-for-3 on the power play in the game and 1-for-31 in the postseason. They scored three goals in the series after leading the NHL with 337 goals during the regular season.
"They blocked shots," Florida captain Aleksander Barkov said. "They play really desperate defense. They play really well, so it's hard to get there. But like I said, we could have done a lot of things differently, but our effort was there every game."
Tampa Bay had two goals in the second period overturned on a challenge.
Killorn appeared to scored on a deflection at 8:44, but Brunette challeneged for a missed game stoppage, and the call was reversed after a video review.
Nikita Kucherov then scored from the left circle off a face-off win by Anthony Cirelli at 10:32, but that was also called back after it was determined that Cirelli made a hand pass to get the puck to Kucherov.
"These goals are coming off the board, and then even the poor puck rolls on [Palat] at the end and you're like, 'Oh my gosh, now we got to kill a penalty on this with two and a half minutes left,'" Cooper said. "But you make your own breaks, and the guys did and literally, if that last penalty kill didn't personify what's gone on in our playoffs here, nothing does and, and incredible stuff to watch."
NOTES: Only one goalie since 1955-56 has made more saves in a series-clinching shutout than Vasilevskiy's 49: Patrick Roy, who made 63 in Game 4 of 1996 Cup Final, also against the Panthers. ... The Lightning blocked 18 shots in the game and 77 for the series. ... Panthers forward Joe Thornton was minus-1 in 6:18 of ice time after being a healthy scratch for the first nine games of the playoffs. ... This the first time the Lightning have swept a playoff series under Cooper.