Lightning struck the Maple Leafs to tie the series

Defender Victor Hedman and forward Nikita Kucherov led, with four and three points, respectively, in charge for Team Florida. They were able to forget their poor performance in their 5-0 defeat on Monday.

However, Maple Leafs is released to the lion in this game. They had a lot of good chances to score from the start, but they faced an Andrei Vasilevskiy at the top of his game, then they paid the price for their lack of discipline.

Toronto gave up for the first time with 2.8 seconds left in the first period they dominated. Left alone near Jack Campbell’s net, Victor Hedman satisfied with a failed clearance attempt by the Leafs to beat the Toronto keeper. Alex Kerfoot was in the penalty box then for Toronto.

Inspired by that happy ending to the difficult first period, Lightning added another goal in the opening minutes of the second period. Corey Perry defeated Campbell in a breakaway.

Michael Bunting, returning to the game, sounded a possible return of the Maple Leafs in the ensuing minutes, but the Torontonians ’bad habits ruined his effort. Nikita Kucherov took advantage of a silly home turnaround to add to the score with a one-man advantage two minutes later.

Brandon Hagel and Brayden Point paid for the losing Maple Leafs in the third period. Point also scored the third goal of the night for Lightning in power play.

The Maple Leafs made the end of the game interesting with goals by Mitch Marner and Alex Kerfoot to close the gap on two goals, but it was too late for a comeback.

We have too many penaltiesidentified Mitch Marner at a press briefing after the meeting. We need to play more 5-on-5 hockey and stay away from the penalty box.

His teammate Wayne Simmonds, who received a penalty that led to Point’s goal late in the game, blamed his side, but he also shares his teammate’s perspective.

We will have to do a better job, with me, to be disciplined, he said. They played more, honestly. They played more, but they were also more disciplined.

With the win, two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Lightning followed up their strong streak over the past two years. He is still undefeated in games following the playoff loss.

The Maples Leafs missed a good chance to take their first 2-0 series lead in 20 years. Toronto hasn’t taken the lead since their first-round series against the New York Islanders in 2002.

There was little separating our two teams, assessed head coach Sheldon Keefe after the game. The difference in the game is the special teams, and the fact that we take too many penalties.

The series between Lightning and Maple Leafs will now move to Tampa Bay for Games 3 and 4. The next matchup is Friday night.