(The Sports Xchange) - Having lost two straight and facing the possibility of a Game Seven on the road in Montreal, the Tampa Bay Lightning buckled down and closed out their Eastern Conference semi-final with a 4-1 win over the Canadiens at their Amalie Arena on Tuesday.
Goaltender Ben Bishop stopped the first 18 shots he faced as the Lightning wrapped up the series 4-2 and advanced to the conference final for just the third time.
Tampa Bay, who raced to a 3-0 series lead but saw that cushion cut after two losses, secured the clinching win without right winger Ryan Callahan, who was sidelined after an emergency appendectomy late on Monday.