TORONTO — The Lightning knew this wasn’t going to be easy. After dropping Game 1 to the Maple Leafs, and even after taking a four-goal lead in Wednesday’s Game 2, the Lightning knew they’d have to battle to come out of Toronto with a tied series.
The Lightning flexed their championship muscle, playing with quicker pace and more determination in the 5-3 win. But they had to buckle down in the final moments when Alex Kerfoot’s short-handed goal made it a two-point game. The Lightning’s penalty kill, which stopped Toronto on all four man-advantage opportunities, quieted the league’s top power play down to the end, when Toronto had a 6-on-4 in the final minutes.
After being shut out in their postseason series opener for just the fourth time in franchise history, the Lightning desperately needed a good start. And Victor Hedman gave them momentum by opening the scoring with 1.4 seconds left on the power play.
After going 0 for 5 in Game 1, the Lightning scored three goals on the man advantage.
Since starting the 2020 postseason in the bubble, the Lightning have followed all 16 playoff losses with a win in the next game.
Hedman, who had a four-point night, must have had a clock ticking down in his head as he brought the puck into the offensive zone in the final seconds of the first period.
He sent a drop pass back to Alex Killorn and drove to the net, and when a loose puck came his way, he was there to score.
Killorn scuffed a shot, and Nikita Kucherov got his stick between two Toronto skaters and the puck rolled to Hedman, who patiently waited for Leafs goaltender Jack Campbell to lean across the net before easily burying his forehand shot inside the near post.
Early in the second period, the Lightning quieted the home crowd with Corey Perry’s goal 2:21 into the period after Hedman sprung Perry with a stretch pass through the neutral zone, allowing Perry to beat Campbell five hole on the breakaway.
The Leafs cut the lead to 2-1 on Michael Bunting’s goal, which came off a Ryan McDonagh turnover in the Lightning zone.
Kucherov’s goal 2:10 later was a critical response 29 seconds into a Lightning power play. Kucherov patiently came across the right circle, surveyed the traffic in front and snapped a shot nearside over Campbell’s glove.
Kucherov assisted on both Lightning goals in the third, feeding Nick Paul, who set up Brandon Hagel in front of the net for his first career postseason goal. Kucherov also found Brayden Point in front on the power play to put the Lightning up 5-1 at the 5:38 mark.
