Flyers defeat Lightning in round-robin, win Eastern Conference top seed

Nicolas Aube-Kubel scored twice to give the Philadelphia Flyers a 4-1 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning and the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference in a Stanley Cup Qualifiers round-robin game at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Saturday.

Carter Hart made 23 saves, and Joel Farabee had one goal and one assist for the Flyers (3-0-0), who will play the Montreal Canadiens, the No. 8 seed, in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

"Everybody has to be thinking about team-first," Philadelphia coach Alain Vigneault said. "There's no doubt that some players right now are playing well. That's very beneficial for our team."

WATCH: [All Flyers vs. Lightning highlights]

Andrei Vasilevskiy made 26 saves, and Tyler Johnson scored for Tampa Bay (2-1-0), which is the No. 2 seed. It will face the winner (the No. 7 seed) of the best-of-5 series between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Columbus Blue Jackets; Game 5 is in Toronto, the Eastern Conference hub city, on Sunday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN, TVAS, FS-O).

The top four seeds for the playoffs in each conference are determined by round-robin in the Qualifiers. The Washington Capitals and Boston Bruins will play in Toronto on Sunday (Noon ET; NBCSN, NHL.TV, SN, TVAS, NBCSWA, NESN) to determine the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds in the East.

Tampa Bay won 62 regular-season games last season before being swept by the Blue Jackets in the Eastern Conference First Round as the No. 1 seed.

"I believe we're in good shape and ready for the first round," Vasilevskiy said. "I'm pretty sure it's a good thing we lost tonight. We don't want to get comfortable like last year, and for sure we'll have some urgency in the first round."

But the Lightning could be without defenseman Victor Hedman, who left at 9:28 of the first period after he stumbled in open ice.

Tampa Bay was already without captain Steven Stamkos, who missed each of its three round-robin games with a lower-body injury sustained before training camp began July 13. The forward's status for the start of the first round is uncertain.

"We don't know how long this is going to be, but when your perennial Norris Trophy finalist is out, that creates a hole," said Lightning coach Jon Cooper, who did not provide an update on Hedman. "We've dealt with injuries before. Our captain's out. He's been out a long time. It's frustrating. We feel we're going in the right direction and we lose star power."

Aube-Kubel put the Flyers ahead 1-0 with the first postseason goal of his NHL career, deflecting a shot from Shayne Gostisbehere at 7:40 of the first period. He scored again on a one-timer off a pass from Sean Couturier at 14:00 of the first to make it 2-0.

The 24-year-old is the first Flyers rookie with at least two goals in a postseason game since Matt Read scored twice against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals on April 15, 2012.

"I feel like I played well the two previous games," Aube-Kubel said. "Skating hard, finishing hits. I guess the team result is what makes me confident."

Johnson scored on a snap shot from the slot for a power-play goal at 5:21 of the second period to make it 2-1. Farabee gave Philadelphia a 3-1 lead with a one-timer from the right circle at 14:22 of the second. Tyler Pitlick scored an empty-net goal with 1:20 remaining in the third period for the 4-1 final.

The Lightning were outshot 20-6 in the first period but had an 11-4 edge in the third.

"Give the Flyers credit. They played a pretty simple game, played as a team," Tampa Bay defenseman Ryan McDonagh said. "That's one thing for us to look at moving forward, how well they support each other. We forced things. That allowed them to get back into it, find their groove.

"We made some errors, lost some pucks and lost our structure. At the end of the day, we can take a lesson in how simple and how better they worked, and it allowed them to get the lead."

The Flyers allowed one goal in each of their round-robin games against the Lightning, Capitals and Bruins. They outscored their opponents 11-3.

"[Vigneault] definitely preaches defense first," Gostisbehere said. "I think it shows. A good defense leads to good offense, so I think for us, three pretty good teams offensively, only letting in one goal. … I think it really speaks volumes to our defense as a whole, as a team. It's something we definitely take pride in."

Philadelphia played without forward Jakub Voracek, who had one assist in the first two round-robin games. As part of the NHL Return to Play Plan, a team is not permitted to disclose player injury or illness information.

NHL.com staff writer Tracey Myers contributed to this report