Lightning sweeps Caps from playoffs

Sean Bergenheim scored two goals and Dwayne Roloson, the former Islander goaltender, stopped 33 shots as the surging Tampa Bay Lightning completed a series sweep of the top-seeded Washington Capitals with a 5-3 victory in Game 4 last night in Tampa, Fla.

Playing on consecutive nights for the first time this postseason, the Lightning extended its winning streak to seven and advanced to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since its 2004 Stanley Cup championship season.

For Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals it was yet another bitter postseason disappointment. Rookie Michal Neuvirth stopped 32 shots for Washington, but Bergenheim, another former Islander, scored twice in eight minutes during the second period to build a 3-1 lead that induced chants of "sweep, sweep, sweep" from a sellout crowd of 20,835.

The Lightning's big three of Martin St. Louis, Vincent Lecavalier and Steven Stamkos have elevated their games, but so has Bergenheim, who has a team-leading seven goals through two rounds. St. Louis' sixth goal of the playoffs, with 3:08 remaining, finished Tampa Bay's scoring.

Ryan Malone and Marc-Andre Bergeron, yet another former Islander, added goals for the Lightning.

Bruins 5, Flyers 1: Zdeno Chara and David Krejci scored in the opening 63 seconds, and host Boston added two goals in a 95-second span in the second period to beat Philadelphia and take a 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

One year after watching their 3-0 series lead disappear in an unprecedented collapse, the Bruins again moved one game from sweeping Philadelphia in the conference semis. This year they have a chance to do it at home, with Game 4 tomorrow night at the TD Garden.

Tim Thomas made 37 saves for Boston, which hasn't reached the conference finals since 1992.

Andrej Meszaros spoiled Thomas' shutout bid with 3:34 left in the middle period. The Flyers pulled the goalie with more than 2 minutes left, but back-to-back penalties gave the Bruins a 5-on-3 edge. Chara put a slap shot in with 1:22 left for Boston's first power-play goal of the playoffs.

Sharks 4, Red Wings 3:Devin Setoguchi scored 9:21 into overtime to finish a hat trick, and visiting San Jose took a 3-0 lead in the Western Conference semifinals. San Jose's Dan Boyle scored the tying goal with 4:08 left in regulation, setting up the Sharks' second overtime win of the series. -- AP