Toronto Maple Leafs shutout Tampa Bay Lightning in Playoff Series Opener
By Neil Becker
The back-to-back defending Stanley Cup champions Tampa Bay Lightning sent a message to their likely first-round playoff opponents the Toronto Maple Leafs.
On Thursday night at Amalie Arena, it was a message-sending game as the Lightning’s offense was in full overdrive as they defeated the Leafs by an 8-1 score.
This was a penalty-filled game being played between two teams who clearly don’t like one another.
The Leafs, who for a third straight game were playing without star forward Auston Matthews could have with a win clinched second place in the Atlantic Division which of course brings home-ice advantage. Currently, the Leafs have four games left and are six points ahead of Tampa who they will more than likely be playing in about 10 days from now in the opening round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Following a scoreless first period, Tampa Bay took control in the second as they outshot Toronto by a 16-11 count and scored four straight goals to take a commanding 4-0 lead.
Starting things off was Lightning forward Alex Killorn who at the 3:54 mark scored his first of two when he deflected the puck past Leafs goalie Erik Kallgren for his 21st goal of the year. Ross Colton, who last year scored the Stanley Cup winning goal made it 2-0 when at 11:37, he also scored his first of two, which was his 20th goal of the season.
The third goal was historic in Tampa Bay franchise history as it came on the power play on a one-timer from captain Steve Stamkos which made him the all-time Tampa Bay franchise leader in points with 954. Stamkos, who scored what was his 34th goal of the year, passed his one-time teammate and current Montreal Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis.
With just under five minutes remaining in the second Tampa Bay got a second power-play goal which came from forward Nikita Kucherov with his 20th goal to make it a 4-0 game after 40 minutes of regulation.
Among the many penalties called in the second was a fight between Maple Leafs Wayne Simmonds and Bolts Pat Maroon. Late in the game, they would once again get together and end up receiving 10- minute misconducts.
Tampa continued to press in the third and less than five minutes in were rewarded with two more goals from forwards Ondrej Palat with his 17th and Killorn with his second and 25th of the season which came on the power play for a 6-0 lead.
Toronto would finally break Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy’s bid for a shutout when on the power play at the 7:45 mark forward Ilya Mikheyev’s shot trickled in glove side for what was his 19th goal.
Tampa Bay finished the game with an exclamation mark as they added two more goals starting at 8:50 from Colton with his second of the game and 21st of the year followed by Maroon who with a little under six minutes remaining rounded the scoring with his 10th goal.
It’s hard to say exactly what to make of the final score as the Leafs were playing not only without Matthews but also minus defenceman Jake Muzzin and starting goalie Jack Campbell.
Judging from the fights and scrums along with trash talk it’s safe to say that if they do end up playing one another, and it’s almost a certainty, that it would be a great opening-round series.
The Leafs should have Campbell in net on Saturday when the Leafs are in Sunrise for a 7 p.m. starting faceoff against the Atlantic Division-leading Florida Panthers.
SCORING SUMMARY
1ST. Period
No Scoring
2ND Period
3:54 Alex Killorn (24) 0 – 1
Erik Cernak (11), Brandon Hagel (17)
11:37 Ross Colton (20) 0 – 2
Nick Paul (14), Corey Perry (20)
12:38 PPG – Steve Stamkos (34) 0 – 3
Nikita Kucherov (34), Victor Hedman (55)
15:07 PPG- Nikita Kucherov (20) 0 – 4
Corey Perry (21), Alex Killorn (33)
3RD. Period
1:12 Ondrej Palat (17) 0 – 5
Mikhail Sergachev (30), Steve Stamkos (55)
4:33 PPG- Alex Killorn (25) 0 – 6
Steve Stamkos (56), Victor Hedman (56)
7:45 PPG- Ilya Mikheyev (19) 1 – 6
Jason Spezza (12), Mark Giordano (26)
8:50 Ross Colton (21) 1 – 7
Ondrej Palat (26), Ryan McDonagh (20)
14:11 Pat Maroon (10) 1 – 8
Ondrej Palat (27), Ross Colton (17)
By Neil Becker
If Tuesday night’s performance was any indication, then Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Jack Campbell is ready to embrace the challenge of playoff hockey.
Campbell who went through some lengthy cold stretches and missed some time due to a rib injury has been rounding into form and was solid on Tuesday night where he thrilled the Scotiabank Arena fans with a 37 save performance in a 5-2 win against the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Leafs, who are now eight points ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning for second in the Atlantic Division has been scorching hot in posting an 11-1-1 record in their past 13 games.
Toronto, who for a second straight game were playing without Austin Matthews, got another strong game for forward William Nylander who set a career-best with his 32nd goal of the season. Nylander, who had a two-point performance against the Flyers, has now scored four goals and eight points in his last five games.
Also, Leafs forward Mitch Marner earned his 61st assist, which leaves him with five games remaining to try and get five more points to join Auston Matthews in reaching the 100- point plateau this season.
Looking to sweep their season series against Philadelphia, the Leafs got off to a good start when at 1:35 of the second, Leafs defenceman Timothy Liljegren from the point blasted home his fifth goal glove side to give the Leafs a 1-0 lead.
Philadelphia, who have long since been eliminated from playoff contention managed to get some momentum when a former Leaf, James van Riemsdyk had a few whacks at a lose puck and at 8:07 of the second scored his 21st goal to make it a brand-new game.
At 13:39 of the second Nylander scored his 32nd goal on a power-play to give them a lead that they would not relinquish.
Prior to the period ending they added a big insurance goal when with only 24.8 seconds remaining three veterans in Wayne Simmonds, Jason Spezza and Mark Giordano combined for a highlight-reel goal. Simmonds fed a nice pass to Spezza who on a give-and-go fed Giordano who passed back to Spezza for his 11th goal of the season.
A little past the 10- minute mark of the third period, Toronto added a fourth goal as David Kampf scored his 11th on a shot that deflected off a Flyer skate and into the net for a 4-1 lead.
Philadelphia would get one back as forward Ronnie Attard scored his second goal, before Toronto clinched the win with an open net goal at 18:27 from forward Ilya Mikheyev with his 18th to finish off another Leafs win.
In what could very well end up being a first-round match-up the Leafs on Thursday night are in Tampa Bay to take on the Lightning with puck drop scheduled for 8 p.m.
SCORING SUMMARY
1ST. Period
No goals
2nd. Period
1:35 Timothy Liljegren (5) 0 – 1
Alex Kerfoot (38), William Nylander (44)
8:07 James van Riemsdyk (21) 1 – 1
Keith Yandle (16), Travis Konecny (34)
13:39 PPG-William Nylander (32) 1 – 2
Mitch Marner (61), John Tavares (49)
19:35 Jason Spezza (11) 1 – 3
Mark Giordano (25), Wayne Simmonds (11)
3rd. Period
10:11 David Kampf (11) 1 – 4
Ilya Lyubushkin (12), Ilya Mikheyev (11)
17:24 Ronnie Attard (2) 2 – 4
Travis Konecny (35)
18:27 EN- Ilya Mikheyev (18) 2 – 5
Pierre Engvall (18), T.J. Brodie (22)