Yanni Gourde’s second-period, short-handed goal was the difference and Andrei Vasilevskiy collected the shutout as the Tampa Bay Lightning advanced to the Stanley Cup Final with a home-ice 1-0 victory over the New York Islanders in their Game 7 clash Friday night.
The Lightning, the defending Cup champions, will face the Montreal Canadiens in the championship round, which kicks off on Monday in Tampa.
Vasilevskiy made 18 saves to earn his fourth shutout of this year’s playoffs and the fifth of his career in the postseason. He has collected a shutout in each of Tampa Bay’s past four series-clinching victories, including Game 6 of last year’s finals against the Dallas Stars.