Key Takeaways:
- On Friday night, the Tampa Bay Lightning were crushed 5-2 by the Toronto Maple Leafs, giving them a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series.
- The Leafs are currently 13-0-0 when Kampf scores in 2021-22, including twice in the playoffs when he buried another short-handed goal in Game 1.
The Tampa Bay Lightning was defeated by the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2 on Friday night and took a 2-1 lead in their 1st-round playoff series. David Kampf scored the game-winning goal, while Jack Campbell made 32 saves.
The other goals for Toronto came from Morgan Rielly, Colin Blackwell, and Ilya Mikheyev, who scored twice into the empty net in the best-of-seven series after the Lightning won Game 2. Three assists went to Pierre Engvall.
For Tampa, Ondrej Palat had a goal and an assist, and Ross Colton had a goal and an assist. For the 2-time defending Stanley Cup champions, Andrei Vasilevskiy made 31 saves.
Game 4 will occur at Amalie Arena on Sunday night before the series shifts to Toronto on Tuesday for Game 5.
If required, Game 6 will be played on Thursday in Tampa.
Also read: More than 7 million doses of COVID-19 vaccination have been delivered in Toronto
When Kampf scores in 2021-22, the Leafs are currently 13-0-0, including twice in the playoffs after he buried another short-handed goal in Game 1.
After a procession to the penalty box and 22 power plays in the first two games, Toronto took advantage of an early man opportunity when Tampa winger Pat Maroon was called for delay of game.
After a couple of excellent looks, Auston Matthews, as well as Mitch Marner both, had shots blocked in rapid succession. Still, the puck eventually got to Rielly off Michael Bunting’s skate, who fired past Vasilevskiy at 4:54. Vasilevskiy had a strong rebound performance in Game 2 after allowing five goals on 33 shots in Game 1.
The Leafs then killed off a Lightning power play thanks to some big saves from Campbell and then went the many ways on a 3-on-1 break after the penalty expired, with Ilya Lyubushkin – who had just come out of the box – delaying before feeding Blackwell, who buried it into an open net at 9:44 for his first playoff goal.
Following another Lightning penalty later in the period, fans in Tampa, like their Toronto counterparts in Games 1 and 2, expressed considerable discontent with the referees, with cries of “Ref, you stink!” resonating around the sold-out venue.
The Leafs had a 5-on-3 penalty shot early in the 2nd that the home team killed off, but Kampf made it 3-0 with an unassisted goal at 5:52 following a fumble in the neutral zone.
On a power play, Colton put the Lightning on the board at 11:03 with a one-timer up high on Campbell. Later in the period, the Tampa forward had a fantastic chance to make it 3-2, but he hit a post with the Toronto goaltender at his mercy.
Toronto had a fantastic chance to reclaim the three-goal advantage five minutes into the third period, but Vasilevskiy denied Matthews on a break and the 60-goal man’s rebound attempt.
Palat tied the game at 3-2 with a wrist shot over Campbell’s shoulder at 5:43.
Jake Muzzin was called for hooking with 7:46 left in regulation, giving Tampa its third power play of the game. Campbell robbed Steven Stamkos on a one-timer before grabbing a Victor Hedman snapshot from the slot.
The Leaf’s goaltender, who had regained his form late in the season, maintained the fort until Mikheyev scored his first two playoff goals into an open net to secure the victory and a 2-1 series lead.
Source: Global news
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