TAMPA, Fla. _ The thunderstorm that rolled through the area a few hours before faceoff was a sign. At least, that is what Lightning fans tweeted about.
The Lightning continued their postseason roll, beating the Bruins, 3-1, on Sunday at Amalie Arena to clinch the Eastern Conference semifinal in five games.
The Lightning advanced to the Eastern Conference final for the third time in four seasons. It will play the winner of the Capitals-Penguins series, which Washington leads 3-2. Game 6 is Monday night. The Lightning again will have home ice.
The Lightning took the lead with six minutes to play in the second period on a power-play goal by J.T. Miller and protected it over the final 26 minutes.
The Bruins had a power play late in the third period and the Lightning killed it off. Ryan Callahan caught up to a cleared puck and took it behind the Bruins net, where he helped kill off about 20 seconds. Andrei Vasilevskiy made a couple of big saves, none bigger than when he stopped Patrice Bergeron just as the penalty expired and the Lightning was caught on a bad line change.
The Bruins took the first lead, scoring on the power play when David Krejci scored from the left faceoff circle in the final minute of the opening period. That was an ominous development for the Lightning, since the team that scored first in the first seven games between these two teams this season won the game.
The Lightning tied it midway through the second when Brayden Point got to a puck the Bruins failed to clear, skated around Kevan Miller and beat Tuukka Rask with a backhander.
Tampa Bay took the lead just over three minutes later when Miller scored on the power play. He and Nikita Kucherov hooked up on a little give-and-go, with Miller passing to Kucherov and Kucherov sending the puck back to Miller, who skated around Zdeno Chara to get open for a shot.
