These are the kinds of plays that go a long way in winning a postseason series, and it was a rookie who isn’t even legally allowed to drink in the United States that made it happen.
Toronto Maple Leafs rookie forward Matthew Knies, who is in the lineup due to the suspension of Michael Bunting, absolutely robbed the Tampa Bay Lightning of what would have been a sure goal by Anthony Cirelli by stopping the rolling puck from fully crossing the goal line at the last possible moment:
The spectacular defensive effort prevented the Lightning from taking a two goal lead. An absolutely incredible heads up play by the young man who was playing collegiate hockey at Amalie Arena with the Minnesota Golden Gophers just two weeks ago.
The Tampa Bay Lightning have been anything but fully healthy for their Round 1 Stanley Cup Playoffs series against the rival Toronto Maple Leafs, having lost defenseman Erik Cernak after a dirty elbow from Toronto’s Michael Bunting, while also having been without cornerstone defenseman Victor Hedman for Game 2.
And while they were fortunate to avoid a devastating injury to sniper Brayden Point in Game 3, they may have just suffered another devastating setback. Defenseman Mikhail Sergachev took a snapshot from Ryan O’Reilly right on the outside of his knee, and he literally had to crawl back to the bench in extreme pain and immediately went to the dressing room.
However, if you can believe it, he’s already returned to action.
Sergachev is one of Tampa’s most valuable players, having played in 37 minutes in the overtime loss in Game 3. Thankfully, he appears to be no worse for wear in what could have truly been a serious injury.
It seemed as though the Tampa Bay Lightning had the Toronto Maple Leafs dead to rites last night, enjoying a 4-1 lead midway through the third period and on the verge of tying the series up at two games apiece. However, in a game that the Leafs would historically wilt away in, they came through with other plans.
Two goals from Auston Matthews and another from Morgan Rielly tied the score late in the third period, setting the stage for Alex Kerfoot to assume the role of hero with a deflection of a Mark Giordano shot in overtime. The Leafs absolutely stunned the Lightning, and are now one win away from advancing in the postseason for the first time since 2004.
“The message in the third period: Don’t go away,” head coach Sheldon Keefe explained. “Stay with it. You are not necessarily at that point are thinking you are going to come back in the game. You just want to stay there and give yourself a chance to come back in the game versus just going away and moving onto the next one.”
“I just pushed the guys to stay with it, have a positive period, seek to win the period, and once you do that, you start chipping away and you have a chance. Credit to the group — the spirit of the group — for carrying us through to come back in this fashion. It is outstanding to witness and be a part of.”
It really does feel as though this time around will be different fo the Leafs, who have been accustomed to finding ways to lose key playoff games. The addition of 2019 Conn Smythe Trophy winner Ryan O’Reilly has already come through in major ways for the Leafs in these playoffs, as he scored the game-tying goal in Game 3 while also assisting on the subsequent overtime winner.
“Whether it is the guys who have been through it or the guys who have come in to add to the group, collectively, it feels different,” Keefe said. “I think that is why you end up on the right side of these things. Certainly, it feels different. Things tend to go your way when that is the case.”
“But let’s not get carried away. We have a tough task ahead to finish this series off.”
Fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs everywhere were expecting to return home to Toronto with their series against the rival Tampa Bay Lightning tied at two games apiece after the Bolts jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the second period that they maintained halfway through the game’s final frame.
However, by the time that it was all said and done, the Maple Leafs put together a truly unbelievably comeback and captured their second overtime victory in a row over an absolutely stunned Lightning team, seizing a 3-1 series stranglehold ahead of Thursday’s Game 5 back at Scotiabank Arena.
As usual, television broadcast cameras would often pan to the throng of Leafs fans celebrating the win outside of Scotiabank Arena in the area known as Maple Leafs Square, but it was one fan who was in Amalie Arena who went viral for his reaction to the win.
Take a look for yourself and tell us that’s not the collective feeling of Leafs Nation right now:
You think he’s fired up or what?
The series isn’t over yet, and the Leafs know they’ll be facing a desperate Lightning team on Thursday night. They’re also well aware of the history of their own playoff letdowns, including blowing a 3-1 series lead over the Montreal Canadiens two years ago.
But for now, the Leafs are in prime position to advance for the first time since 2004, and fans have every right to feel excited – especially after two straight comeback overtime wins!
The Tampa Bay Lightning and the Toronto Maple Leafs are set to clash in Game 3 of their first round Stanley Cup playoff matchup, and now we have a better idea of who will be representing each team tonight.
One of the biggest questions coming into tonight’s game surrounded the status of Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman, and based on the look the Lightning are showing in warmups tonight it does appear as though he will be playing in tonight’s game. Here is a look at the Lightning’s full lineup in warmups:
Meanwhile everything was a question mark for the Maple Leafs with Sheldon Keefe declining to share any details about any potential lineup changes this evening ahead of tonight’s game. That being said, the team does have to warmup, and here is how the Leafs look ahead of Game 3:
Saturday night’s Game 3 between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Toronto Maple Leafs was the site of something that has never before been seen in the history of the National Hockey League, a fight between a pair of 60 goal scorers.
It wasn’t very much of a fight at all though and in fact you could probably argue that it was more of an assault on the part of Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos, who used a chaotic situation during the game to take a few shots at Toronto Maple Leafs star forward Auston Matthews.
The two men clashed after a scary-looking hit from Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly sent Lightning forward Brayden Point crashing head and shoulders first into the boards, with Stamkos delivering several unanswered punches to the face of Matthews while being restrained by the officials.
Following the conclusion of the game, Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe was asked about the incident and he used the opportunity to sound off on Stamkos, the Lightning, and even NHL referee Jake Brenk.
“The fight itself, that’s a classic example of a veteran championship team like Tampa Bay manipulating the officials and taking advantage of a situation, right?” said Keefe following Game 3. “I mean they know that we’re basically already going on the power play because of the Kucherov situation so it’s a free-for-all. They can do whatever they want and they just know that the way the games get called they’re not going to get another penalty. I mean you watch that sequence back and say that we shouldn’t get a 5-on-3. The officials literally holding Steven Stamkos with one arm and his other hand with no glove on is punching Auston Matthews. Not the linesman, the referee who calls the penalty was holding Stamkos while this was happening. Credit to Tampa for recognizing that situation, it’s a free pass to do what you want. Not only do they get out of it unscathed, but they take Matthews and O’Reilly with them to the box. Brilliant play by the Lightning there.”
The Tampa Bay Lightning are furious heading into the second intermission, this in spite of the fact that they currently boast a 3-2 lead over the Toronto Maple Leafs after 40 minutes of play.
Lightning head coach Jon Cooper nearly blew a gasket on the Lightning bench after a mistake from the National Hockey League’s officials cost his team what would otherwise have been a sure goal.
In fact it appeared as though Lightning forward Brayden Point had scored a goal after Maple Leafs goaltender Ilya Samsonov lost sight of the puck, but one of the officials on the ice prematurely blew his whistle. This resulted in the play being blown dead prior to the puck crossing the goal line, and even upon review the officials were forced to deprive both Point and the Lightning of a goal.
This resulted in Cooper snapping on the bench, launching a tirade at the officials that had just cost his team so dearly.
The first round series between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Toronto Maple Leafs appeared to reach a boiling point on Saturday night at Amalie Arena, with the physicality between both teams taking a serious step up in intensity.
The game would feature a fight between a pair of 60 goal scorers in Leafs star forward Auston Matthews and Lightning captain Steven Stamkos, which itself was part of a larger scrum that ensued off the back of a hit from Morgan Rielly that left Lightning forward Brayden Point in considerable pain.
Things weren’t just intense on the ice though with the fans in the crowd also getting into the mix, even clashing with Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas at one point during the evening.
A Lightning fan has published a video on social media that he captured during Game 3 at Amalie Arena, one that shows Dubas getting into it with members of the crowd. Presumably Dubas is going back and forth with opposing fans during the course of the game, although it’s hard to tell exactly when this interaction occurred.
The fan who published the video claims that Dubas was “yelling” at Lightning fans in the crowd after the aforementioned hit on Brayden Point, which would certainly be a bad look for the Leafs GM. That being said, Dubas’ body language and demeanor in this clip certainly doesn’t appear to convey any anger or mean-spiritedness, but we don’t have the benefit of hearing what was actually being said.
Things got pretty rough between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Toronto Maple Leafs during Saturday night’s Game 3, but I doubt that many of you expected that it would be Maple Leafs forward Sam Lafferty that would be getting the call from the National Hockey League’s Department of Player Safety (DOPS) on Sunday.
There was plenty of physicality on both sides last night but the DOPS has chosen to single out Lafferty for a crosscheck that he delivered to the mouth and face of Lightning forward Ross Colton. As a result of his infraction, Lafferty will now be forced to forfeit $3,108.11, in salary which is the maximum allowable amount under the rules of the collective bargaining agreement.
Although Colton may have done a little selling on the play in the hopes of drawing a penalty, there’s no question that Lafferty got too loose with his stick and did in fact strike Colton in face. With that in mind the fine is perfectly warranted, but it is still somewhat surprising to see this particular infraction singled out given the number of dangerous plays that occurred on Saturday night.
On Saturday, following the conclusion of Game 3 between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning, Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe made some highly publicized comments regarding the way the Lightning conducted themselves during a scrum that occurred off the back of a big hit. That hit, one that came courtesy of Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly, would send Lightning forward Brayden Point crashing awkwardly into the end boards with his head and shoulder absorbing the brunt of the impact.
Keefe accused the Lightning of “manipulating the officials” during the scrum, suggesting that the Lightning took liberties knowing full well that the officials would not put them in a 5 on 3 situation. The Maple Leafs head coach also accused the Lightning of “taking advantage of a situation” adding that “they just know… they’re not going to get another penalty.”
On Sunday, Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper was asked to respond to the comments made by his counterpart in this series, and Cooper flat out denied any knowledge of Keefe’s accusations. Not only did Cooper deny any manipulation, but he also suggested that it was his squad that should have had the man advantage.
“Manipulated the referees. Alright, I’m not sure what that means, but I would say this. When that hit happened, I think everybody watching at home and everybody in the building, including us, thought we were going on the power play,” argued Cooper.
The Lightning head coach would go a step further by suggesting that none of his players did anything, or would do anything, that would have jeopardized that potential power play for the Lightning.
“Our two best power-play players, I don’t think they would ever sit there and take themselves off a power play unless they thought something unjust happened. Auston Matthews doesn’t kill penalties. That actually worked against us, to be honest. Now, we ended up being shorthanded after that, but I don’t think anybody thought that was going to happen at the time, so I don’t know, that one’s a little different for me.”
It seems clear both coaches have drastically different perspectives regarding what transpired last night.
