Montreal, QC (SportsNetwork.com) - It was 21 years ago the last time the Montreal Canadiens swept an opponent in a playoff series.

It was also 21 years ago that the storied franchise won its last Stanley Cup.

Thanks to Max Pacioretty's late goal, Montreal finished off a convincing four- game sweep of the Tampa Bay Lightning with a 4-3 win in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals.

The last sweep by Montreal in the postseason occurred during the 1993 Adams Division finals, when the team took down Buffalo on the way to winning its 24th championship.

It was also the last time a Canadian team hoisted the chalice, and if it is to happen this year, it would have to be the Canadiens as they are the only country's representatives left in this year's chase.

The Canadiens held a 3-1 lead in the third period before the Lightning scored twice in the frame to tie it, but the Canadiens went ahead with 42.6 seconds to play on Pacioretty's first-ever playoff goal.

Brendan Gallagher, Danny Briere and Lars Eller all scored, while Carey Price stopped 20 shots for the Canadiens, who will now have a lengthy break to prepare for their semifinal matchup.

Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and Victor Hedman all scored for the Lightning, who had grabbed home ice from the Canadiens on the final day of the season, but it didn't help as the team was swept for the first time in franchise history.

Anders Lindback, who was called upon to be the starting goaltender in the series as Ben Bishop suffered an upper-body injury late in the season, struggled again as he gave up three goals on 20 shots and was lifted in the second period.

Kristers Gudlevskis gave up just the one goal on 17 shots in relief.