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Lightning finish sweep of Capitals

(China Daily)
Updated: 2011-05-06 08:00

A fan of the Tampa Bay Lightning celebrates their series victory over the Washington Capitals on Wednesday. [Photo/Agencies]

TAMPA, Fla. - With time winding down, chants of "sweep, sweep, sweep" reverberated through the building, and the Tampa Bay Lightning kept pushing the Washington Capitals - all the way out of the NHL playoffs.

Sean Bergenheim scored two goals and Dwayne Roloson stopped 33 shots, helping the streaking Lightning complete a series sweep of the top-seeded Capitals with a 5-3 victory in Game 4 on Wednesday night.

Playing on consecutive nights for the first time this postseason, the fifth-seeded Lightning extended their winning streak to seven games and advanced to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since their 2004 Stanley Cup championship season.

"We're definitely happy, but we're not popping champagne or anything," Lightning forward Ryan Malone said. "We know what our goal is and we have to keep going and stay even keel. We haven't done anything yet."

For Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals it was yet another bitter postseason disappointment.

Rookie Michal Neuvirth stopped 32 shots for Washington, but Bergenheim scored twice in eight minutes during the second period to build a 3-1 lead that sent the sellout crowd of 20,835 into celebratory mode long before it was over.

"It just seemed like they had an answer for everything that we threw at them," Capitals defenseman Karl Alzner said. "That's kind of the tough part. We didn't get rewarded for everything that we threw at them."

The Lightning's big three of Martin St. Louis, Vincent Lecavalier and Steven Stamkos have elevated their games, but so has Bergenheim, who has a team-leading seven goals through two rounds. St. Louis' sixth goal of the playoffs, with 3:08 remaining, finished Tampa Bay's scoring.

Ryan Malone and Marc-Andre Bergeron added goals for the Lightning, who have not lost since dropping into a 3-1 hole against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round.

Bergenheim was eighth on the Lightning with 14 regular-season goals, however he's been much more of an offensive force in ousting the Penguins and Lightning.

It's something coach Guy Boucher, who has Tampa Bay in the conference finals in his first season as an NHL coach, has come to expect of the forward.

"Every top game, every important game, every game that there is some pressure, he was in it. He was one of our better players," Boucher said. "Some people freeze under pressure, some people fly away, and some people fight. He fights."

Marco Sturm, John Erskine and John Carlson scored for the Capitals. Ovechkin had an assist on Sturm's goal, but couldn't find the net with any of five shots at Roloson, the 41-year-old, midseason acquisition who has been a key factor in Tampa Bay's surprising success against Pittsburgh and Washington.

"He was outstanding," Ovechkin said.

Associated Press