Pierre-Edouard Bellemare’s Tampa Bay in the Conference final

Tampa Bay will not have trembled in this semi-final of the Eastern Conference of the NHL play-offs. Frenchman Pierre-Edouard Bellemare’s team qualified by sweeping (4-0) Florida, the best team of the regular season. On Monday, the Lightning, two-time defending NHL champions, won 2-0 at home. It took until the last quarter of an hour to see Patrick Maroon and Ondrej Palat score the two winning goals. Tampa Bay will find the winner of the confrontation between the New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes (Carolina leads 2-1) in the Conference final.

In the West, Colorado offered a third victory in four games, thanks to its success (6-3) in Missouri, against St. Louis. Nazem Kadri, author of a hat-trick, particularly shone. The Avalanche will therefore have the opportunity to qualify for the Conference final on Wednesday at home.