MONTREAL, April 29 (UPI) -- Brad Richards scored his second straight game-winning goal Thursday night, giving Tampa Bay a series sweep with a 3-1 victory over Montreal.
The top-seeded Lightning advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals and will face either Philadelphia or Toronto.
Defenseman Dan Boyle scored a power-play goal for Tampa Bay, which recorded its first ever post-season sweep. Montreal was swept in a playoff series for only the fourth time in their long history.
The Canadiens took a 1-0 lead 5:46 into the game on Niklas Sundstrom's goal. But Boyle, whose turnover helped create the deficit, redeemed himself midway through the second period.
Two nights after breaking the hearts of a sellout crowd at the Bell Centre, Richards struck again. Taking a feed from Dmitry Afanasenkov low in the left faceoff circle, he put a backhander past goaltender Jose Theodore with 2:46 left in the second, giving Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead.
Fredrik Modin ended Montreal's hopes with an empty-netter and Nikolai Khabibulin made 27 saves for the Lightning.
