Maple Leafs rout 2-time defending champs Lightning
Auston Matthews had two goals and an assist and Jack Campbell made 23 saves in the second playoff shutout of his career as the Maple Leafs beat the twotime defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning 5-0 Monday night in Toronto in Game1 of the first-round playoffs series.
Mitch Marner had a goal and two assists. Jake Muzzin scored and David Kampf added a goal on a shorthanded breakaway for Toronto, which killed off five Lightning power plays, including an early five-minute major.
Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 29 shots for the Lightning.
The second game of the best-of-7 series is Wednesday in Toronto.
Teams that have won the series opener hold an alltime record of 499-228, including 9-6 last season.
Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe predicted a “borderline violent” series, and that's exactly how things unfolded seven minutes into the first period. Toronto winger Kyle Clifford pasted Tampa's Ross Colton from behind into the boards to earn a five-minute major and a game misconduct.
After having already killed off one minor penalty, Toronto had the better chances down a man as Alexander Kerfoot shot off the post on a 2-on-1.
The Maple Leafs failed to convert on two subsequent power plays, but moved ahead with 1:41 left in the period when Muzzin's point shot through a screen beat Vasilevskiy.
Toronto called a timeout ahead of a 5-on-3 power play in second and took just 11 seconds to score with five forwards on the ice. Marner fed Matthews, whose shot beat Vasilevskiy to the short side.
Tampa got its fourth man advantage later in the period, but Kampf beat Victor Hedman to a loose puck as Toronto once again showed its superior speed before beating Vasilevskiy to make it 3-0 at 9:27.
Campbell had to be sharp at the other end on another Lightning power play. He made a nice blocker stop on Brayden Point off a Nikita Kucherov feed. Steven Stamkos then heeled a one-timer.
The Leafs put the game out of reach at 16:39, when Marner snapped his long playoff goal drought. The winger took a slick pass from Morgan Rielly off the rush and beat Vasilevskiy for his first playoff goal since April 11, 2019, a stretch of 18 games.
Toronto kept pressing into the third period. Matthews made it 5-0 when Vasilevskiy misplayed the puck behind his net and he scored his second at 8:16.
The game took another violent turn midway through the period with multiple fights on one shift.
The Leafs have lost seven straight post-season series and haven't advanced to the second round since 2004. They absorbed a crushing seven-game loss last season when the Montreal Canadiens stormed back from a 3-1 deficit.
The Lightning have won eight straight series since a stunning sweep at the hands of the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2019, following a 128-point campaign and the franchise's first Presidents' Trophy.
David Perron had a hat trick and an assist to lead visiting St. Louis in Game 1 of their first-round series, one year after he missed the playoffs with COVID-19. Ryan O'Reilly scored, Torey Krug added three assists and Ville Husso made 37 saves for the shutout in his postseason debut for the Blues, who seized home-ice advantage.
Seth Jarvis and Nino Niederreiter scored secondperiod goals and Antti Raanta had 35 saves his his playoff debut for host Carolina in Game 1.Jarvis and Niederreiter scored roughly two minutes apart in the second period to break a scoreless tie. Teuvo Teravainen and Vincent Trocheck added third-period goals.
All-Star goaltender Juuse Saros of Nashville will miss the first two games of the first-round series with Colorado due to a left leg injury.