Lightning oust Canadians with 4-1 win in Game 6

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – Nikita Kucherov had two goals and an assist and the Tampa Bay Lightning advanced to the Eastern Conference finals with a 4-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night.

Steven Stamkos scored his third goal of the playoffs for the Lightning, who closed out the second-round series in six games after Montreal fought off elimination in Games 4 and 5.

Kucherov finished with six goals in the series.

Ondrej Palat also had a goal and assist for Tampa Bay, which played without forward Ryan Callahan, who had an emergency appendectomy on Monday night.

Ben Bishop stopped 18 shots to outperform Carey Price, who finished with 24 saves.

The Lightning, who won nine of 11 meetings against the Canadians this season including playoffs, will face either the New York Rangers or Washington Capitals in the conference finals.

Those teams meet in Game 7 of their second-round series on Wednesday night.