Sports

 
ADVERTISEMENT
 
National Hockey League
Tampa Bay 3, New Jersey 1
When: 3:00 PM ET, Saturday, April 21, 2018
Where: Amalie Arena, Tampa, Florida
Referees: Trevor Hanson, Marc Joannette
Linesmen: Trent Knorr, Jonny Murray
Attendance: 19029
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 26 saves as the Tampa Bay Lightning eliminated the New Jersey Devils with a 3-1 victory in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals on Saturday afternoon.

The Lightning won the series four games to one and await the winner of Boston-Toronto. The Bruins lead the series 3-2 after losing to the Maple Leafs 4-3 on Saturday night.

Vasilevskiy did not see much action until the third period as the Lightning controlled possession throughout the second due to four straight power plays. He stepped up with saves on Taylor Hall, Kyle Palmieri and Pavel Zacha during New Jersey's first power play midway through the third.

The stop on Palmieri occurred when Vasilevskiy sprawled through the crease and stretched his right foot to secure the puck before it crossed the goal line with 10:31 remaining.

Nearly two minutes later, Vasilevskiy made a point-blank stop on a partial breakaway chance by Jesper Bratt.

"He just came up huge in every big situation," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "There were times in this series he'd go seven to nine minutes without seeing a shot, and then all of a sudden have to face a power play or face a big-time chance.

"The timely saves were phenomenal for us. He just played with confidence."

Mikhail Sergachev scored his first career goal in the first period, Nikita Kucherov netted the game-winner with about 8 1/2 minutes remaining and Ryan Callahan added an empty-net goal.

"We wanted to make sure we took care of it here," Callahan said. "I loved the way we did it defensively, we were sound."

Cory Schneider kept the Devils in the game with a 35-save performance. He made 11 stops during four straight Tampa Bay power plays in the second when the Devils were outshot 18-4.

Patrick Maroon scored for the Devils, who stayed in the game by keeping the Lightning scoreless in five power plays. Hall endured a frustrating game, highlighted by breaking his stick on a one-timer attempt with about 14 minutes left.

"It's a tough pill to swallow," Palmieri said. "Doesn't matter if you lose in Game 5, 6 or 7. If you lose your last game of the season it sucks."

Schneider was pulled with 3:32 left, and Maroon tipped a Palmieri slapshot from the point by Vasilevskiy's stick.

Schneider went to the bench again with about two minutes remaining but returned seconds later and made an acrobatic save on a breakaway chance by Tyler Johnson.

"It never ends when you want it to unless obviously you go all the way," Schneider said. "I thought we took a big step forward as a group, as an organization. Disappointed that we couldn't do more, go further in the playoffs. Obviously that's going to sit with us for a while here, but I think we got a lot out of a lot of guys here and we have to make sure that we keep turning upward."

For the fourth time in the series, the Lightning struck first, using an aggressive forecheck to get Sergachev's first career postseason goal 8:07 into the game.

Yanni Gourde pressured Travis Zajac into a turnover behind the net near the right corner and quickly moved the puck to Anthony Cirelli.

Cirelli quickly dished it off to Sergachev, whose shot from above the left circle sailed through traffic and by Schneider.

The Lightning finally scored the second goal with 7:33 left when Kucherov's long shot near center ice trickled through Schneider's legs. Kucherov set a team record with 10 points in the series, surpassing the mark of nine points by Johnson in the 2015 Eastern Conference finals against the New York Rangers.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
New Jersey   Tampa Bay
Patrick Maroon 1 Points Ryan Callahan 1
Patrick Maroon 1 Goals Ryan Callahan 1
Will Butcher 1 Assists Anthony Cirelli 1
N/A Power Play Goals N/A
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Cory Schneider .946 Save Percentage Andrei Vasilevskiy .963
Cory Schneider 35 Saves Andrei Vasilevskiy 26
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
New Jersey 27 1 0-1 5-5 10 22
Tampa Bay 38 3 0-5 1-1 2 33
Upcoming Games
  • Tampa Bay will play their next game on the road against New Jersey. The Lightning have a W/L % of .636 after a win and .704 after a loss.
  • New Jersey will play their next game at home against Tampa Bay. The Devils have a W/L % of .600 after a win and .459 after a loss.