![]() Samsonov made a huge stop on Perry before Nylander fired through a screen on another man advantage to make it 3-2 inside a pulsating rink. Toronto got one back on a power play with O'Reilly - the biggest piece of the team's roster reconstruction ahead of the March trade deadline - eight minutes into the second. Toronto, which beat Tampa 5-0 in Game 1 in the same building last spring, started to push back with Matthews showing the most fight.īut the visitors went up three with just 2.6 seconds remaining in the period on a power play when a Kucherov one-timer beat Samsonov short side. The Lightning, who struggled down the stretch without much to play for and knowing they were locked into a Toronto rematch, made it 2-0 exactly six minutes later when Cirelli buried a rebound on a scramble after the Leafs gave the puck away in the neutral zone. Tampa opened the scoring against the surprisingly timid and disconnected Leafs just 1:18 into the first period to silence the raucous, towel-waving crowd when Bellemare scored on a rebound after Zach Aston-Reese couldn't clear the puck. The other froze at the first opportunity to once again - finally - flip its long playoff narrative that includes 55 years without a championship. The battle-tested Lightning, meanwhile, won the Cup in both 20 before falling to the Colorado Avalanche in last year's final. Toronto captain John Tavares has gone 0-5 since signing on in 2018. The Leafs have lost seven straight series dating back to 2013, including six in a row with the talented core led by Matthews, Marner and Nylander. Toronto is desperately looking to end an ugly string of post-season failures that has seen the Original Six franchise fail to advance since 2004. The Lightning, who bested the Leafs in seven games at the same stage last spring on the way to their third consecutive Stanley Cup appearance, can take a 2-0 series lead Thursday back at Scotiabank Arena. The rookie netminder finished with four stops. Ilya Samsonov allowed six goals on 29 shots before getting replaced by Joseph Woll to start the third period. Ryan O'Reilly, William Nylander and Calle Jarnkrok replied for Toronto. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 28 saves in his 100th playoff start. Pierre-Edouard Bellemare also scored for Tampa, which connected on four power plays. ![]() Nikita Kucherov and Corey Perry both added a goal and two assists for Tampa, while Anthony Cirelli and Ross Colton chipped in with a goal and assist each. TORONTO - Brayden Point scored twice as the Tampa Bay Lightning humiliated the Toronto Maple Leafs 7-3 in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series Tuesday. ![]()
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