MATTHEWS HELPS LEAFS TO 3-2 EDGE
Auston Matthews scored the tiebreaking goal with 6:06 left in the third period and the host Toronto Maple Leafs rallied from an early two-goal deficit to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 on Tuesday night and take a 3-2 lead in the first-round playoff series.
Maple Leafs 4, Lightning 3
William Nylander added a goal and two assists for Toronto, which is a victory away from advancing in the postseason for the first time since 2004. John Tavares had a goal and assist, and Morgan Rielly also scored. Jack Campbell stopped 32 shots.
Steven Stamkos, Victor Hedman and Ryan McDonagh scored, Nikita Kucherov had two assists and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 22 saves for the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Lightning, who will try to avoid elimination in the best-of-seven series in Game 6 at home on Thursday night.
Game 7, if necessary, would be in Toronto on Saturday.
Matthews snapped a 3-3 tie on a 2-on-1 rush in the third period. Mitch Marner fired a shot off Vasilevskiy’s right pad and Matthews, who had 60 goals during the regular season, scored his third of the playoffs to ignite the raucous home crowd.
The Lightning pulled Vasilevskiy late and had a couple of chances, but iced the puck with 21.9 seconds left to force the 2021 Conn Smythe Trophy winner back into his crease.
Down 2-1 heading to the third, Toronto tied the score with the teams playing 4 on 4 at 3:01 when Tavares held onto the puck in the offensive zone before finding Rielly, who scored his first of the series.
The Leafs took their first lead when Nylander scored his third goal in the last two games on Vasilevskiy.
But the Lightning responded at 8:17, when McDonagh blasted a shot past Campbell, tying the game at 3 before Matthews won it.
Hurricanes 5, Bruins 1: Rookie Seth Jarvis scored twice and Antti Raanta finished with 34 saves to help host Carolina beat Boston for a 3-2 lead in the firstround playoff series.
Blues 5, Wild 2: Vladimir Tarasenko had three goals in the third period to break open a tie game and series, and visiting St. Louis pushed Minnesota to the edge of elimination in Game 5.
Kings 5, Oilers 4 (OT): Adrian Kempe scored his second goal of the game 1:12 into overtime as visiting Los Angeles took a 3-2 series lead.
Notable
The Montreal Canadiens are hosting the NHL Draft in July and will have the right to the No. 1 pick.
Montreal won the draft lottery on Tuesday night. It follows a turbulent season in which they finished last in the overall standings.
The New Jersey Devils shook up the draft order by winning the second of two lottery drawings and moving from the fifth to second slot in the draft order. Montreal will host this year’s event on July 7 and 8. It ends a long wait after the draft was held remotely due to the coronavirus pandemic in each of the past two years.