TORONTO –
Nick Paul scored twice, together with an unbelievable particular person effort on the winner late within the second inning, because the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1 in sport 7 on Saturday to win the match. their first spherical playoff sequence with a rating of 4-3.
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 29 saves for the two-time Stanley Cup champion.
Morgan Rielly responds to Toronto, the workforce hasn’t made it to the second spherical since 2004 and is now 0-9 in video games the place it may get rid of an opponent 5 seasons in the past after additionally dropping Sport 6 with additional time 4-3 in Tampa two nights earlier.
Jack Campbell saves 23 photographs.
Regardless of their greatest efforts, the Leafs have been as soon as once more insurmountable and ended up flipping over a protracted, ugly story of playoff failures for a sequence that has now misplaced the final seven sequence, of which have six consecutive video games since 2017.
Toronto is at present 7-3 at residence in Sport 7, together with a loss at Scotiabank Area final season after taking a 3-1 result in the Montreal Canadianiens.
A 1-0 lead after 20 minutes on Saturday, the Leafs appeared to finish the sport at 11:28 of the second half when John Tavares put in a shot towards Vasilevskiy, however the aim was worn out after Toronto’s Justin Holl was whistled for interfering.
Campbell needed to make just a few determined stops within the ensuing kill to set the stage for Rielly’s equalizer after a setup from Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews to attain the playoffs’ third aim at 6: 35 to plunge a crowd of 19,316 right into a frenzy.
The aim was Vasilevskiy and Lightning’s first of their final six decisive matches.
William Nylander then headed excessive in a breakthrough and goalkeeper Tampa robbed Matthews with a Leafs echo.
However Paul scored his second of the night time – and his second ever within the knockout levels – with 3:28 left in time in an excellent sport the place he kicked the ball from skates on his stick.
Tampa nearly made it 3-1 within the closing levels when Kucherov hit Campbell’s put up from the slit.
Vasilevskiy was encircled all through a powerful Leafs play for simply over six minutes within the third minute, however stored the hosts within the sport regardless of some intense stress.
Toronto continues to hit a nervous, tense observe because the clock ticks down.
Nevertheless, the Leafs couldn’t discover a manner by way of as Campbell was on the bench for a further assault to finish one other chapter of play-off frustration.
Each groups had nice alternatives to interrupt by way of early, however Vasilevskiy and Campbell have been current at each flip.
Tavares almost opened the scoring in an excellent close-by that Vasilevskiy shot into his left wing earlier than the 2019 Vezina Trophy winner denied Marner.
Campbell then hosted the fort in a match with Lightning powers because of a few nice seems for the away workforce.
Brayden Level, who scored the profitable aim in Tampa’s Sport 6 win to increase the streak, was injured late within the first sport when his proper foot acquired caught beneath as he fell onto the ice. The winger – in agony as he made his manner down the tunnel to the dressing room – tried to come back again within the second half, however shut it down after a brief shift.
The Lightning took a 1-0 lead shortly after Level was knocked down within the first sport when Paul, who had a number of possibilities in Sport 5 together with his teammates earlier than Toronto roared again, scored the primary aim. first.
Campbell stopped step one after Ross Colton’s swoop on a Rielly hit, however the rebound fell to Paul at 1:36 as Toronto conceded its first aim within the fourth sport. consecutive.
The Lightning solely performed of their second Sport 7 for the reason that begin of the 2020 knockout spherical after beating the New York Islanders 1-0 at residence within the semifinals final June.
Toronto’s closing Saturday sport at residence with followers – the membership’s 2021 loss to Montreal was performed within the presence of 550 medical workers due to COVID-19 restrictions – since 2004 when Joe Nieuwendyk scored twice to oust the Ottawa Senators.
The Leafs didn’t make the playoffs once more till 2013 after they fell in Sport 7 to the Boston Bruins. The membership’s new era reached the knockout levels for the primary time in 2017, however endured a string of struggling that stretched on Saturday night time.
This report by the Canadian Press was first revealed on Might 14, 2022.
