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TAMPA Arizona Coyotes Hats Authentic , Fla. (AP) — The Tampa Bay Lightning earned one trophy on Monday night. Starting next month, they’ll be one of the favorites in the chase for the Stanley Cup.The Lightning clinched the Presidents’ Trophy for the top regular-season mark in the league with a 4-1 win over the Arizona Coyotes.The Lightning, who have 56 wins and 116 points, will try to become the ninth Presidents’ Trophy winner to win the Cup. The Presidents’ Trophy was first awarded by the NHL in 1985-86.“Trophies are hard to win, they truly are,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “And when you win one you should be damn proud of it. I know there are a lot of teams that have not won that trophy and I think it’s something you should embrace.”Lightning captain Steven Stamkos scored his 36th goal of the season and 384th of his career to become the Lightning franchise leader in goals, passing former Tampa Bay captain Vinny Lecavalier.“I’m very honored and humbled to be a part of history like that,” said Stamkos, who reached the record in 737 games. “Definitely happy it happened in a win and in a game like that where so many special things that happened.”Victor Hedman scored his 10th goal of the season while Anthony Cirelli and Yanni Gourde added empty-net short-handed goals in the final minute.Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 28 saves for his 36th victory of the season, tied for the league lead.Clayton Keller scored his 14th of the season and Darcy Kuemper stopped 20 shots for Arizona, which remains one point ahead of Minnesota for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.“You’re playing a number one and I thought we handled ourselves really well,” Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet said. “Guys played hard. They stuck to the system Custom Arizona Coyotes Jerseys , inch here and there, couple of missed nets here and there and (the Lightning) get one to start the period. You’re hoping it was one of those games that’s an overtime game. I thought it was.”Keller opened the scoring 5:03 into the game, taking a drop pass from Christian Dvorak for a one-timer past Vasilevskiy. Stamkos tied the score 1:51 later, tipping Ryan McDonagh’s shot.Hedman put Tampa Bay in front for good 44 seconds into the third period while Cirelli notched his fifth short-handed goal of the season, tied for the league lead, with a shot from his own end with 44.8 seconds left. Gourde finished it off with 8.6 seconds left.“It’s probably one of the best games we have played in the season so it’s kind of sour to walk away with no points to be honest with you,” Arizona captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson said.“I can’t forget that we’re playing against one of the best teams in the league and we matched them really, really good tonight.”NOTES: Lightning D Dan Girardi (lower body) and D Anton Stralman (lower body) each missed their fifth consecutive game. … Tampa Bay recalled D Cameron Gaunce from Syracuse of the American Hockey League. … Arizona RW Clayton Keller has four goals in four games against Tampa Bay. … Vasilevskiy leads the league with 20 victories since Jan. 1, Kuemper is second with 19. … Gourde became the fifth Lightning player to reach the 20-goal mark this season and has reached it in consecutive seasons.UP NEXTLightning: At Washington Capitals on WednesdayCoyotes: At Florida Panthers on Thursday TAMPA, Fla. (AP) The Tampa Bay Lightning understand what it takes to be successful in the Stanley Cup playoffs.”You need your best players to be the best players, and they rose to the occasion,” coach Jon Cooper said Saturday after the top seed in the Eastern Conference beat the New Jersey Devils 3-1 www.officialbruinsproonline.com , ending their first-round series in five games.”People are going to look at this series and say: `Oh, 4-1. Tampa took it to them.’ Anybody that was actually watching these games knew clearly that’s not what happened in this series,” Cooper added. ”It was fought from the drop of the puck to the end. We just happened to get big goals at the right time.”Nikita Kucherov scored his 27th career postseason goal and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 26 shots for the Lightning, who advanced to a second-round matchup against either the Boston Bruins or Toronto Maple Leafs.Kucherov, the NHL’s third-leading scorer during the regular season with 100 points, had five goals and five assists in the five games, setting a franchise for points in a playoff series. He also tied Vincent Lecavalier for second-place on the club’s all-time postseason scoring list.”I thought he elevated (his play) throughout the series, no question,” Cooper said of the 24-year-old, two-time All-Star, who has 27 goals and 25 assists in 50 career playoff games.”He’s an extreme competitor,” New Jersey coach John Hynes said. ”When you look at a guy like Kucherov Boston Bruins T-Shirts Authentic , he has talent but he’s not a perimeter player. He’s very strong on the puck, he competes hard, he’s got good hockey sense. He’s the type of offensive player you need to have success if you’re going to have a chance to win the Stanley Cup.”Mikhail Sergachev became the youngest player in Lightning history to score a playoff goal and Ryan Callahan, back in the lineup after missing the previous two games with an upper-body injury, sealed it with an empty-netter for the Atlantic Division champions with 1.7 seconds remaining.”Feels great, especially at home in front of our fans,” Kucherov said. ”I think we played well defensively, and teams that play well defensively move forward.”Tampa Bay won the first two games at home before splitting a pair of the road, returning to Amalie Arena after Kucherov had two goals and an assist to key a 3-1 victory in Game 4The right winger’s sizzling shot past goalie Cory Schneider put the Lightning up 2-0 at 12:27 of the third period of the clincher.The 19-year-old Sergachev, meanwhile, became the youngest player in franchise history to score a playoff goal, giving the Lightning a 1-0 lead in the first period.Schneider did all he could to give the Devils a chance to extend their first playoff appearance since 2012.The goalie Boston Bruins Hoodies Authentic , who lost his starting job after being injured in January, stopped 35 of 37 shots, including Tyler Johnson’s breakaway that kept New Jersey within striking distance after Kyle Palmieri trimmed Tampa Bay’s lead to one goal with three minutes left.Will Butcher and Taylor Hall assisted on the only goal for New Jersey, which played without injured defenseman Sami Vatanen.”I felt good and enjoyed playing, but at the end of the day I didn’t get the job done,” said Schneider, who replaced Keith Kinkaid during Game 1 and started the last four games. ”I didn’t extend the series, and I didn’t get us the win, so a little bit for naught.”New Jersey kept it close, killing off four consecutive penalties in the second period, when the Lightning outshot the Devils 18-4 but couldn’t expand its one-goal lead.Schneider had two more saves early in the third as Tampa Bay sputtered on a fifth power-play opportunity.”We have to stay out of the box better than we did tonight,” Hynes said. ”It sometimes disrupts the flow of the game Boston Bruins Hats Authentic , but I think if you look at the penalty kill, those guys played their hearts out. I thought Cory was fantastic. . Those guys kept us right in the game, right to the end.”Notes: The Lightning was 0-for-10 on the power play in Games 4 and 5, yet won both games. … Vatanen, New Jersey’s top defenseman, was injured during the opening period of Game 4 when he was checked high by Kucherov. The Devils also played without RW Stefan Noesen, who was scratched with a lower-body injury. … Callahan (upper body) returned after missing Games 3 and 4. ”It’s always tough watching your team play, especially in the playoffs,” he said. ”To be able to get back out there and play was big.”—