TORONTO — Anthony Cirelli Michael Eyssimont and Nick Paul scored for the Tampa Bay Lightning, defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to fend off elimination and sending the first-round series back to Amalie Arena on Saturday for Game 6.
Morgan Rielly opened the scoring for the Maple Leafs but Cirelli equalized for the Lightning 26 seconds later, as both teams entered the first intermission tied at one apiece. Eyssimont scored from a bad angle, gliding past Justin Holl and wiring it past Ilya Samsonov from inside the faceoff circle. Nick Paul scored the eventual game-winner for the Lightning during the third period after Ross Colton’s centering pass hit Maple Leafs forward Zach Aston-Reese in the skates, ricocheting to the centre of the ice. Paul jammed away at the puck and buried it on his second chance for the 3-1 marker.
Auston Matthews scored with 3:33 remaining, reinvigorating the home crowd at Scotiabank Arena, but it was all for naught, as Tampa Bay closed the door in the final minutes. Alex Killorn added an empty-net goal with 4.2 seconds remaining. Andrei Vasilevskiy shut the door for the Lightning, making 29 stops, while Samsonov recorded 32 saves in a losing effort.
More to come.
