TAMPA, Fla. — Victor Hedman scored twice and Ben Bishop stopped 28 shots Sunday, helping the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the visiting New York Islanders, 4-0, and reach the Eastern Conference final for the second straight year.
Tampa Bay eliminated the Islanders in five games, winning four straight in the second-round series.
Hedman scored an unassisted goal from the slot at 13:49 of the first period, then beat Islanders goaltender Thomas Greiss again on a second-period power play that gave Tampa Bay a three-goal lead.
Nikita Kucherov and Brian Boyle also scored for the Lightning, who will face either the Pittsburgh Penguins or Washington Capitals in the East final. The Penguins lead the Capitals, 3-2, with Game 6 scheduled for Tuesday night in Pittsburgh.
‘‘Back to back, it’s pretty impressive what our guys have done,’’ Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said.
‘‘Once you get there, you want to get back. I'm really impressed with our drive. We didn’t play perfect playoff games every time, but we’re getting contributions from everybody in the lineup. If you want to win, you need that.’’
Bishop earned his fifth career playoff shutout, and his fourth in the deciding game of a series. He blanked Detroit, 1-0, in Game 5 to end that first-round matchup and won two Game 7s without allowing a goal to help Tampa Bay reach the Stanley Cup final last year.
Captain John Tavares got a goal and an assist in New York’s only victory over Tampa Bay, but didn’t have a point in the last four games.
‘‘Brutal,’’ Tavares said after the game. “It’s hard to believe it’s over. You put a lot into this and we didn’t accomplish what we set out to do.’’
The loss ended New York’s deepest playoff run since 1993.
