Lightning eliminate Panthers with Game 6 shutout

TAMPA --Andrei Vasilevskiy made 29 saves, and the Tampa Bay Lightning eliminated the Florida Panthers with a 4-0 win in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup First Round at Amalie Arena on Wednesday.

Steven Stamkos had a goal and an assist, and Nikita Kucherov and Erik Cernak each had two assists for the Lightning, the No. 3 seed in the Discover Central Division.
Tampa Bay will play either the Carolina Hurricanes or Nashville Predators in the second round. The Hurricanes lead that best-of-7 series with Game 6 in Nashville on Thursday.
"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 (a 4-1 loss in Game 5) and we talked about it. We have the best goalie in the world, and he shut the door."

Spencer Knight made 20 saves for the Panthers, the No. 2 seed, who have not won a playoff series since 1996, when they advanced to the Stanley Cup Final before being swept by the Colorado Avalanche.
"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."

Pat Maroon gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead at 6:16 of the first period, knocking the puck out of the air with his backhand following a centering pass from Tyler Johnson.
"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 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."
Stamkos made it 2-0 at 13:27 of the second period. He beat Knight to the near post with a one-timer from the right circle on the power play.
"The penalty kill was great, the power play got one, it was just a 60-minute effort," Stamkos said. "That's what it takes to close out a series, especially against good teams. It was great to be part of that effort tonight."

Brayden Point extended the lead to 3-0 at 14:36 of the third period when he made a cut around Panthers defenseman MacKenzie Weegar and tucked the puck past Knight's outstretched left pad.
"Obviously disappointed. I thought we had our chances in this series, could have went either way," Panthers forward 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."
Alex Killorn shot into an empty net at 18:18 for the 4-0 final.
"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 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."
NOTES: Lightning forward Barclay Goodrow (upper body) made his series debut and had three shots and five hits in 16:43 of ice time. … Kucherov led the series with 11 points (three goals, eight assists). … Vasilevskiy's shutout was his second in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. His other was against the Dallas Stars in Game 6 of the 2020 Stanley Cup Final, when Tampa Bay won its second championship.