World’s top defenceman, goalkeeper beat up on Leafs
This was a huge comeback night for Hedman and Vasilevskiy more than anyone else on the Lightning.
The best defenceman in the world doesn’t always win the Norris Trophy and the best goaltender in the world doesn’t always win the Vezina Trophy — but when the playoffs begin, they sure come out to play.
Victor Hedman and Andrei Vasilevskiy more than showed up Wednesday night and put on a dazzling display of sorts in Game 2 of this best-of-seven series and now the Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning are tied at one win apiece.
And in a playoff series so full of stars, theirs shone the brightest Wednesday night and honestly, it was difficult not to stare, admire and applaud. They are that special. They are that talented. And they will be that challenging to line up against for every game in the series.
It becomes even more challenging when the occasional break and bounce work against the Leafs — as is what happened in Game 2.
The Maple Leafs probably played well enough to win Game 2 in the first two periods, well enough to take a 2-0 lead in the series, before falling apart in the third. But all night long, Hedman did what Hedman does best. He controlled the puck. He controlled the play. He conducted the Tampa Bay orchestra. And everyone else played along in tune without missing a beat.
The goal Hedman scored in the final seconds of the first period came with Tampa on the power play and seemingly running out of time. Suddenly there was Hedman, at the side of the Leaf net, playing where a forward would normally play, and from in close, with no one between him and Jack Campbell, he scored with 2.4 seconds left in what should have been a first period without goals.
One second it looked like the first period would end in a tie. The next second Hedman made it 1-0.
And this is where Vasilevskiy chipped in.
Early in the second period, down a goal, the Leafs had a grand opportunity to tie the game. The emerging defenceman Timothy Liljegren fired a puck from the high slot, with Vasilevskiy down on the ice and the entire top of the net empty. The shot looked on its way to scoring. But Vasilevskiy reached to the skies and made the kind of glove save only great goaltenders make.
Instead of the score being 1-1, it remained 1-0 and not long after that Hedman executed a perfect stretch pass to a cutting Corey Perry, who split the Maple Leafs pair of Morgan Rielly and Ilya Lyubushkin and found himself on a breakaway.
Perry scored on Jack Campbell, who had a decent night in goal for Toronto. The Vasilevskiy save. The Hedman pass. And instead of a period ending 0-0, and instead of a game being 1-1 in the second period, it was 2-0 Tampa Bay.
It was that delicate early on before it became one-sided. And even then, the odd bad break worked against the Leafs. David Kampf was killing a penalty with Wayne Simmonds in the box and looked to move the puck to TJ Brodie, which was a smart play. Except Brodie had lost his stick. So, instead the puck went to Hedman, who passed to Steven Stamkos, who hit Nikita Kucherov to make the score 3-1.
The Leafs were outsmarted and outplayed and as the night went on they also lost their discipline. And still they were close. That’s the fascinating part of a series now tied. The great players, from either side, can win these games almost on their own.
The Hedman power-play goal, scored after a foolish holding penalty by Alex Kerfoot, should not have happened. The Kucherov power-play goal — again coming from a play started by Hedman — came after an unnecessary penalty by Simmonds, who had others on this night.
Four points for Hedman in Game 2. You can have Cale Makar or Roman Josi when the regular games are being played in the season — but I’ll take Hedman when winning is all that matters.
This was a huge comeback game for the Lightning. This was a huge comeback night for Hedman and Vasilevskiy more than anyone else on the Lightning.
In Game 1, Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner combined for six points and the Leafs completely destroyed the Stanley Cup champions 5-0.
In the second game, Hedman scored a goal, set up three others, changed the game when it needed to be changed and in reality won the night for the Lightning. With a little more than help from his friend in goal.
The goal he scored. The save Vasilevskiy made on Liljegren. The breakwaway pass Hedman made to Perry. The presence he had. So many plays, so many moments.
And now a series tied. Two more points for Matthews. Two more points for Marner. Two goals in two playoff games for Marner after 18 games without a goal. But this night was all about the defenceman and the goaltender, the best in the world, and what the Leafs have to deal with every game for the rest of this series.