Hockey

Tampa Bay earns 1st playoff sweep

MONTREAL - Brad Richards scored his second straight winning goal, and the Tampa Bay Lightning swept the Montreal Canadiens out of the playoffs with a 3-1 victory Thursday night. The Lightning advanced to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in their 12-year history and handed Montreal its first series sweep since Buffalo did it in 1998. Tampa Bay, which earned its first playoff sweep, will face either the Toronto Maple Leafs or Philadelphia Flyers next with a trip to the Stanley Cup finals on the line. Nikolai Khabibulin stopped 27 shots, allowing only Niklas Sundstrom's goal 5:46 in. Khabibulin, who has allowed nine goals in nine games, has four shutouts and a 0.99 goals-against-average in this year's playoffs. ° Red Wings 4, Flames 2: In Calgary, Alberta, Mathieu Dandenault rescued the Detroit Red Wings from an 18-second collapse that could've wrecked their season. The defenseman scored his first goal of the postseason midway through the third period as the top-seeded Red Wings beat the Calgary Flames and evened the second-round playoff series 2-2. Game 5 of the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinals series is Saturday in Detroit. Kirk Maltby and Boyd Devereaux also scored for the Red Wings, and Henrik Zetterberg added an empty-net goal in the final minute. Ray Whitney and Kris Draper had two assists each.