Lightning Moves In Eastern Conference Finals

Victor Hedman and Ben Bishop lifted the Tampa Bay Lightning into the Eastern Conference finals for the second straight year.

Hedman scored twice and Bishop stopped 28 shots Sunday to help the defending conference champions beat the New York Islanders 4-0 and end their second-round playoff series in five games.

The Lightning advanced by winning four straight after dropping the series opener at home. They eliminated Detroit in five games in the opening round, which makes them 2-0 in close-out situations this postseason.

"I think we learned last year. We had a couple of series where we had chances to close out at home, and we kind of let them slip," Bishop said. "We really wanted to take pride in closing teams out this year."

Hedman scored an unassisted goal from the slot at 13:49 of the first period, then beat Islanders goaltender Thomas Greiss again on a second-period power play that gave Tampa Bay a three-goal lead.

"Brutal. It's hard to believe it's over," Islanders captain John Tavares said. "You put a lot into this, and we didn't accomplish what we set out to do."

Nikita Kucherov and Brian Boyle also scored for the Lightning, who will face the Pittsburgh Penguins or Washington Capitals in the East final. The Penguins lead that series 3-2, with Game 6 on Tuesday in Pittsburgh.

"Back-to-back. It's pretty impressive what our guys have done," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "Once you get there, you want to get back. I'm really impressed with our drive. We didn't play perfect playoff games every time, but we're getting contributions from everybody in the lineup. If you want to win, you need that."

The 6-foot-7 Bishop earned his fifth career playoff shutout, fourth in the deciding game of a series. He blanked Detroit 1-0 in Game 5 to end that first-round matchup and won two Game 7s without allowing a goal to help Tampa Bay reach the Stanley Cup finals last year.

The loss ended New York's deepest playoff run since 1993.

Sunday, May 8 Scoreboard

Tampa Bay 4, NY Islanders 0

Game 5 - Lightning won 4-1

Monday, May 9 Schedule (All Times Central)

Dallas at St. Louis

Game 6 - Blues lead 3-2, 7 p.m.

San Jose at Nashville

Game 6 - Sharks lead 3-2, 8 p.m

Tuesday, May 10 Schedule (All Times Central)

Washington at Pittsburgh

Game 6 - Penguins lead 3-2, 7 p.m.

Wednesday, May 11 Schedule (All Times Central)

St. Louis at Dallas

Game 7* - Blues lead 3-2, 7 p.m.