Tampa, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - Braydon Coburn broke a scoreless tie early in the third period, and the Tampa Bay Lightning went on to beat the Detroit Red Wings 2-0 on Wednesday night in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series.
Ben Bishop made 31 saves for his first career playoff shutout and picked up an assist on Anton Stralman's empty-net goal as the Lightning advanced to face the Habs in the second round.
The series will begin Friday in Montreal.
With Bishop absent because of an injury, the Lightning were swept by the Canadiens in the first round of last year's playoffs.
Petr Mrazek stopped 15 shots for the Red Wings, who played without two of their top defensemen. Niklas Kronwall served a suspension for his illegal hit to the head of Tampa Bay forward Nikita Kucherov in Game 6 and Marek Zidlicky missed the game because of upper-body injury reported to be concussion-like symptoms.
The Lightning got a power play 51 seconds into the third period when Danny DeKeyser was called for a delay of game penalty after shooting the puck over the glass.
A minute after the power play expired, Ryan Callahan emerged with the puck from behind the Detroit net and sent a cross-ice pass to Coburn. The late- season acquisition from Philadelphia fired a one-timer from the right circle into the top left corner, over Mrazek's right shoulder, at the 3:58 mark.
"When that goal went in, I looked up and I said, 'Oh wow, what a hell of a trade,'" joked Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper.
Bishop moved to his right and absorbed a shot from Henrik Zetterberg on a rush to preserve the 1-0 lead with 11 minutes remaining.
Stralman sealed the win with 1:18 left. His clearing attempt from below the goal line in the Tampa Bay zone caromed off the boards and slid right into the empty net.
The teams had alternated wins in this series through the first six games. Tampa Bay staved off elimination with a 5-2 victory on Monday.
"We had a good team. We had a good chance, but unfortunately we couldn't get it done," said Zetterberg.
The Lightning survived an early surge by the Red Wings, who registered six shots in the game's opening two minutes.
Bishop looked a little jittery at times in the first period but recorded 14 saves to seven for Mrazek.
"We were a pretty nervous group in the first period," Cooper said.
Tampa Bay came close to scoring late in the opening frame. Tyler Johnson skated with Steven Stamkos on a 2-on-1 rush, went around Mrazek and slid the puck from behind the net out front to Stamkos, but the pass couldn't be corralled by the Lightning captain.
In the second period, Bishop strayed from his crease to play a puck in the slot and it turned into a perilous journey, with Detroit's Drew Miller getting to the loose puck first. Fortunately for Bishop, Miller chipped the puck just wide of the open net.
Detroit had another prime opportunity with about two minutes to play in the second period. Tomas Tatar lost control of the puck on a breakaway as he went to deke Bishop.
The shots were 23-12 in favor of the Red Wings after two periods.
Game Notes
Coburn has three career playoff goals, including two in Game 7s ... Tampa Bay improved to 4-1 in Game 7s, while Detroit fell to 14-11 ... Three Lightning players maintained unblemished records in Game 7s: Stralman (6-0), Brian Boyle (5-0) and Matt Carle (4-0) ... Stamkos, who ranked second with 43 goals during the regular season, didn't score in the series ... Tampa Bay forward Brenden Morrow participated in his 100th career playoff game.
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