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The Tampa Bay Lightning Javorius Allen Jersey , with a primary assist from a team that handled them during the regular season, are back in the Eastern Conference final for the third time in four years.

Thank you, Boston Bruins.

”I guess I can say it now. Boston set the bar for us, and we played them three times late in the year,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said after his team’s 3-1 victory over the Bruins ended their second-round playoff series in five games.

”The first two times we played them, they literally manhandled us. … and we knew if we were going to go anywhere when we made the playoffs, or if we made the playoffs, that we had to be as good as Boston,” Cooper added.

”We beat them 4-0 (in the last meeting). I think that gave us a little hit of confidence. I guess a lot of confidence. … and, ultimately we carried that through into this playoff round.”

Brayden Point and J.T. Miller scored second-period goals and Anton Stralman added an empty-netter with 1:29 remaining to end any chance for a Boston comeback.

Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 27 shots – 14 in the final period – for the Lightning, who rebounded from losing the series opener at home to eliminate the Bruins in five games.

Boston won three of the four games between the teams during the regular season, finishing one point behind Tampa Bay for the Atlantic Division title and the No. 1 seed in the East.

The Bruins outlasted Toronto in seven games in the opening round of the playoffs. They scored six goals to beat the Lightning in Game 1, but had difficulty scoring after that.

Over the last three games, Boston failed to score an even-strength goal.

”You’ve got to give them credit. We’re a team that scored all year long with different players in and out of the lineup Danielle Hunter Jersey ,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said.

”We scored against Toronto, so it’s not like after 89 games we forgot how to score or not play the right way,” Cassidy added. ”I think their D corps is big and they move the puck. They did a good job of not allowing us to get inside.”

David Krejci scored on the power play in the final minute of the first period to give Boston a 1-0 lead that Point erased with his unassisted goal at 10:43 of the second.

Miller’s power-play goal broke the tie less than four minutes later, and Stralman added an empty-netter with 1:29 remaining.

”They’re a really good team. They have been all year,” Bruins winger Brad Marchand said. ”They compete extremely hard, they have a lot of speed. They were better than we were in a lot of areas, one of them being puck battles and their pursuit. It showed up in the end.”

One day after being put ”on notice” by the NHL for licking Lightning forward Ryan Callahan during Friday night’s overtime loss in Game 4, there were no more such incidents involving Marchand, who also made headlines after appearing to lick Toronto’s Leo Komarov in the first round.

Marchand was given an edict Saturday to stop licking opponents or subject himself to a possible fine or suspension for future incidents.

Cassidy said before the game that he had spoken with Marchand, delivering a simple, straight-forward message: ”We need you on the ice, we need you playing. If part of his M.O. is to annoy people, find a different way to annoy them. Preferably by scoring some goals, that would be the best way.”

Afterward Mark Andrews Jersey , Marchand shrugged off a question about his discussion the previous day with NHL senior vice president of hockey operations Colin Campbell.

”It is what it is,” Marchand said. ”I think it’s pretty stupid, the whole situation, but if that’s what they want to do, it’s what they want to do.”

The Lightning once again did a good job of containing Boston’s top line of Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak and Marchand. Although the trio combined for 23 points in the series (seven goals, 16 assists), about half that production (11 points) came in the Bruins’ 6-2 win in Game 1.

Bergeron and Charlie McAvoy assisted on Krejci’s goal, but Vasilevskiy came up big against the high-scoring line with four huge saves – one on Bergeron’s point-blank shot – in the closing minutes while Tampa Bay was killing off Boston’s last power-play opportunity.

The Bruins scored five goals over the final three games of the series, four of them on the power play and one short-handed.

”You can’t rely on special teams every night to win games,” Marchand said. ”They help for sure, but you have to be able to produce 5-on-5.”

NOTES: Bruins RW David Backes left the ice after taking a hard hit from Miller with just under eight minutes remaining in the second period. He did not return. … The Lightning improved to 5-1 in Game 5s when holding a 3-1 series lead. … Boston played without D Torey Krug, who injured his left ankle during Game 4. Nick Holden took over Krug’s spot, making his first appearance since Game 3 of Boston’s opening-round series against Toronto.

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The Detroit Red Wings are a team in transition Hunter Henry Jersey , and that was evident Tuesday night.

Veteran defenseman Niklas Kronwall scored a goal for his 400th point, while rookie defenseman Joe Hicketts, playing his second NHL game, grabbed a pair of assists for his first career points as the Red Wings beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2.

”It’s neat for sure,” Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. ”It’s good. I thought a number of our young players played well.”

Luke Glendening scored twice and Darren Helm matched his career high with three points. Helm had a goal and two assists, and Frans Nielsen and Niklas Kronwall also scored for Detroit. Jimmy Howard made 22 saves to help the Red Wings win in regulation for the first time since a 3-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Feb. 24.

Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang scored for the Penguins. Matt Murray stopped 21 shots.

It took Pittsburgh 38 seconds to gain the lead. Crosby took Jake Guentzel’s cross-ice feed and snapped a shot before Howard could get across.

”(Dylan) Larkin, Helm and (Anthony) Mantha was the line that went up against Crosby,” Blashill said. ”They didn’t start great. The turnover early and then they go down and score. But that’s the learning process that you have to do and after that they were really good, so that’s a real positive.”

The Red Wings pulled even 17:43 into opening period. Helm found Kronwall pinching down from the point, and Kronwall whipped a quick shot past Murray. It was his 80th goal, tying him for fourth among Wings defensemen with Hall of Famer Marcel Pronovost.

”I try to keep them,” Kronwall said of his milestone pucks. ”I’m not sure exactly where I have them. I don’t have that many, let’s be honest. I think they’re around somewhere.”

Detroit, mired in a 1-12-1 stretch Harrison Phillips Jersey , grabbed the lead on the power play at 14:28 of the second period. Martin Frk faked a shot, then zipped the puck across the ice to Nielsen, whose high shot eluded the sprawling Murray.

Just 41 seconds later, Detroit made it 3-1 when Glendening deflected Nick Jensen’s point shot.

”We let them have the momentum with those two quick goals in the second period,” Crosby said. ”You can’t let that happen. Once we fell behind there, we were chasing the game.”

The Red Wings added another goal 6:21 into the third period when Helm converted Larkin’s feed for his 10th.

Letang’s point shot found its way through traffic and behind Howard with 3:16 left in regulation.

Glendening finished the scoring into an empty net with 1:28 to play.

”I don’t think we were struggling tonight, we just weren’t playing with the kind of urgency it takes to win games,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. ”This is a hard league, and it is hard to win a game no matter who you are playing.

”If you aren’t willing to make the commitment it takes to give that kind of effort, you are going to get beat.”

NOTES: Red Wings GM Ken Holland would not confirm reports that he and Blashill would return next season, saying only that the question would be answered by the end of the season. … The Penguins are the first visiting team to lose twice at Little Caesars Arena. They also fell 4-1 in Detroit on Dec. 31. . Glendening recorded his second career multi-goal game and first since Jan. 27, 2015 at Florida, along with his fifth career multi-point game.

UP NEXT

Penguins: At New Jersey on Thursday night.

Red Wings: At Buffalo on Thursday night.

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