The Presidents’ Trophy winners are the first ones out of the second round as the Florida Panthers were eliminated in four games by the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Panthers, who led the league with 337 goals during the regular season, scored just three goals in four games. Tampa Bay shut them out 2-0 on Monday on the heels of a goal by Pat Maroon.
The Panthers sent 49 shots toward Andrei Vasilevskiy, who stopped everything in a shutout bid.
The Lightning have now won 10 straight playoff rounds dating back to the start of the 2020 playoffs. Tampa Bay has won the past two Stanley Cups.
Since the start of the salary cap era, Detroit (2006) and Chicago (2013) are the only teams to finish first in the regular season and win the Stanley Cup.
Tampa Bay will play the winner of the New York Rangers vs. Carolina Hurricanes series.
