Leafs Shock the Lightning in Game 1

 

Photo From CP24

Well, the playoffs have finally arrived and last night the Leafs kicked off their first round series at Scotiabank Arena against the defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning. Jack Campbell would be starting for the Leafs and too no one’s surprise Andrei Vasilevskiy would be in goal for Tampa. I must start this by mentioning the crowd, the fans were into this game right from the opening faceoff and the atmosphere was simply unbelievable. Toronto however knew they are going to be in for a difficult series but having home ice could be beneficial for the Leafs because having this crowd and their energy behind them it is like playing with a man advantage the entire game. Early into the game the Leafs would find themselves shorthanded as TJ Brodie would serve a Hooking minor, the Leafs would manage to kill this one off with some aggressive play. A few minutes later Toronto would face a major test on the penalty kill once again as Kyle Clifford would be called for hitting from behind. This was originally ruled as a two-minute minor but after the officials reviewed it upgraded it too a five-minute major and a game misconduct, and as I am writing this it has been announced that Clifford will have a hearing today for his major penalty. So, with the Leafs now shorthanded for five minutes I am sure everyone watching were worried that Tampa was going to grab control of this game because after all the Lightning powerplay is loaded with talent and everyone on the ice is a threat for them. This powerplay though it would be the Leafs dominating the play because second into it the Leafs would have an odd man rush where Kerfoot would hit the post. The next big chance would come when after Tampa did not enter the Leafs zone Mitch Marner would force a turnover that would lead to a backhand shot from Brodie that would be turned aside. Lastly the Leafs would have another odd man rush, but Giordano would see his shot stopped by a sprawling Vasilevskiy. Toronto would kill off the major penalty holding Tampa to only one shot and the crowd would erupt over the massive kill. This would give Toronto a boost of momentum and Tampa would spend most of the period defending. Late in the opening period the Leafs would have possession in the Tampa zone, Ilya Mikheyev and Ondrej Kase who was making his return to the Leaf line up after dealing with a concussion that saw him miss forty games, those two would assist in getting the puck back to the point to Jake Muzzin would see all kinds of traffic in front of the Lightning goal. Jake would send a slapshot that would find its way through everyone and into the back of the net giving Toronto the 1-0 lead one that they would carry into the first intermission.

 

Period two would see the Leafs strong play continue and it would lead to them having their turn on the powerplay and five minutes into the second frame the Leafs would have a two-man advantage as Tampa’s Sergachev, and Jan Rutta would be serving cross checking minors. The Leafs would get right to work applying all kinds of pressure on their shorthanded opponents, and with under a minute left in the first minor the puck would be in the left corner with Tavares, he would then send it across to Mitch Marner whose centering pass would end up on the blade of sixty goal scorer Auston Matthews who would step into a slap shot that would beat Andrei over the shoulder on his blocker side and Toronto would have a well deserved 2-0 lead, and with this goal Matthews would match his postseason total from a year prior as he managed just one goal in seven games against Montreal. A few minutes later Toronto would find themselves shorthanded once again as Ilya Mikheyev would receive his second minor penalty of the game, this one for interference. I have mentioned it many times during the regular season that Toronto is still a threat even when on the penalty kill and this latest Mikheyev minor was no different as the Lightning could hardly enter the Leaf zone and when they did the Leafs were quick to gather the puck and relieve any pressure. Tampa with one minute remaining in their powerplay would have the puck behind Campbell’s goal, a centering pass would end up bouncing over the stick of Victor Hedman leading to a foot race that would be won by David Kampf and he would end up scoring his first of the playoffs growing the Leaf lead to 3-0, Toronto would kill off the remaining seconds of the minor penalty and honestly they would take complete control of this contest. Later in period two the Leafs would add to their lead. Auston Matthews would enter the zone and send the puck ahead to Morgan Rielly, Morgan would then make his way down to the corner before throwing the puck back to the trailing Mitch Marner. There would be all kinds of traffic in front of the Lightning goal and Vasilevskiy would guess that Marner would shoot sending him sliding away from the net, Marner would keep his composure showing great patience and would slide the puck into the open net scoring his first playoff goal since game 1 in 2019 against Boston ending an eighteen game goalless drought for his first goal and third point of the game as an assist would be awarded to him on the Kampf goal. With the Leafs now leading this game 4-0 the Tampa Bay Lightning would try to work their way back into the game with their own offensive push, but Toronto’s defensive play combined with strong play in goal by Jack Campbell the Leafs would shutdown the push by the Lightning and the Leafs would take their commanding 4-0 lead into the second intermission.

 

The final twenty minutes of this game would be interesting one first I’ll talk about the play of the Leafs, like the first two periods this frame would be all Toronto as they would continue to out work their opponent and  just before the midway point of the period the Leafs would be looking to make a line change so Morgan Rielly would send a pass to Ondrej Kase who would simply get to center and dump the puck into the Tampa Bay zone. Andrei Vasilevskiy would go to play the puck, but it would end up bouncing over his stick and making its way to Auston Matthews who would make no mistake and send the puck into the wide-open net for his second of the game and the Leafs would put a five spot to the defending champions. Now here is where things get interesting. A day or so before the series Sheldon Keefe talked about how he went back and studied each of the last two cup runs from Tampa and mentioned that after every single whistle that the Lightning would get into scrums, and he expected this to be a “violent series.” With the game well in hand we would be halfway through this third period when Tampa would do exactly what coach Keefe expected, the Lightning would begin to goon things up as Corey Perry and Pat Maroon in response to a hit that Simmonds threw on Rutta. Wayne knowing his team is on the verge of winning this one would skate away smiling as it seemed roughing minors would be the only discipline handed out as we headed to a commercial break. While viewers at home were seeing an A&W commercial for the 20^th time in the broadcast at the arena, those fans got to watch a line brawl where Simmonds would land a few shots on Pat Maroon who earlier went after Morgan Rielly, and Rielly would square off with Jan Rutta and end up splitting his forehead open. Misconduct penalties would be handed out and this afternoon the NHL’s Player Safety Department would hand out fines of $2,250 to Simmonds, Maroon, and Perry. The rest of this game would see Toronto run the clock down and those in attendance would show their appreciation by giving the Leafs a standing ovation as the final frame ended and the Leafs would take the early series lead thanks to a convincing 5-0 win.

After the game while speaking with the media Sheldon Keefe said he expects the Lightning to be much better tomorrow night and he is right. Tampa did not win back-to-back cups by a fluke they won them because they were talented and skilled enough to do so. Tomorrow night everyone should be prepared to see the Leafs square off against an angry Lightning team who will look for redemption after getting embarrassed last night. Game two will be a real test for the Leafs so Wednesday they will need to pay even more attention to details and keep the game simple, play with patience, and slow things down when ever it is necessary. This is going to be a long but entertaining series.

That’s all for this one thanks as always for reading.

Update: NHL Player Safety has suspended Kyle Clifford for 1 game for his 5 minute hitting from behind major penalty.