TAMPA, Fla. — Nikita Kucherov and the Tampa Bay Lightning are moving on in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Kucherov scored his 27th career postseason goal and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 26 shots as the top seed in the Eastern Conference beat the New Jersey Devils 3-1 on Saturday to end the first-round series in five games.

LATE GAME

Game 5 of the Bruins-Maple Leafs series on Saturday night did not end before deadline. For results see pressherald.com/sports

Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev (98) celebrates with teammates after his goal against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday. Associated Press/Chris O'Meara

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 with 1.7 seconds remaining.

Tampa Bay, which won the first two games at home before splitting a pair on the road, advances to a second-round series against the winner of the first-round matchup between Boston and Toronto. The Bruins and Maple Leafs played Game 5 of that series late Saturday night.

Kucherov, who had 100 points during the regular season, had five goals and five assists in the series. His sizzling shot past goalie Cory Schneider put Tampa Bay up 2-0 at 12:27 of the third period, and his 10 points were the most ever for a Tampa Bay player in a playoff series.

Sergachev – at 19 years, 300 days – became the youngest player in franchise history with 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. He 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.

Sergachev was second among NHL rookie defensemen in scoring with 40 points (nine goals, 31 assists) during the regular season and had had an assist for his first career postseason point in his playoff debut in Game 1.

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 their one-goal lead.

Schneider had two more saves early in the third as Tampa Bay sputtered on a fifth power-play opportunity.

Capitals 4, Blue Jackets 3: Nicklas Backstrom scored his second goal of the game 11:53 into overtime to give Washington a victory over visiting Columbus and a 3-2 lead in the first-round playoff series.

Braden Holtby made 16 of his 39 saves in the third period to help Washington get to overtime. Four of five games between the teams have gone past regulation making fatigue a factor for Game 6 Monday in Columbus.

Evgeny Kuznetsov and T.J. Oshie scored along with Backstrom in regulation for the Capitals, who became the first home team this series to win a home game. Holtby has been in net for Washington’s three consecutive victories after replacing Philipp Grubauer in Game 2, stopping 102 of 108 shots to turn the tide.

Fellow Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky allowed a soft goal to Kuznetsov as one of his four on 29 shots in the loss. Matt Calvert scored shorthanded and on a breakaway and Oliver Bjorkstrand had a deflection goal for Columbus.

Holtby said Friday referees have done a good job in the playoffs calling it like the regular season, and that trend continued in Game 5. An early roughing call on Washington’s Lars Eller yielded nothing, and a slash by Columbus’ Thomas Vanek led to a short-handed goal by Calvert 10:08 into the first period.

Backstrom tied the score at 1 less than three minutes later, banking the puck off Blue Jackets defenseman David Savard’s left skate and watching it trickle down Bobrovsky’s back and in for his first goal of the playoffs.

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