Auston Matthews broke the tie late in the third period and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 on Tuesday in Game 5 of their first-round series.
The Maple Leafs now lead the series 3-2. They will have a chance to win their first series since 2004 on Thursday in Tampa.
Matthews moved the ropes with 6:06 left in regulation, taking advantage of the comeback after a thoughtful low shot from Mitchell Marner.
Ryan McDonagh showered a cold shower on Toronto spectators gathered at Scotiabank Arena by making the match 3-3 about five minutes ago.
William Nylander had a goal and two assists, and John Tavares had a goal and an assist, while Morgan Rielly also had a goal for the Maple Leafs. Jack Campbell stopped for 32 shots.
Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman are the other Lightning scorers. Nikita Kucherov had two assists and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 22 saves.
The Maple Leafs rallied from a two-goal deficit after a period. Rielly eventually tied the game at 2-2 after 3:01 of play in the third period, then Nylander caused hysteria at Scotiabank Arena by giving the Leafs the lead 73 seconds later.
However, it took a third playoffs goal by the man who scored 60 on the season for the Leafs to approach victory in the second round. After Matthews ’goal, Campbell closed the door on Lightning.
Campbell made a key final save late in the game, barely preventing a shot by Hedman with his mitt.
The Hurricanes beat the Bruins 5-1
Seth Jarvis scored two goals, Antti Raanta made 34 saves and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Boston Bruins 5-1 in Game 5 of their first-round series.
The Hurricanes led the series 3-2. They want to end the Bruins in Game 6, which will be played Thursday in Boston.
Tony DeAngelo and Vincent Trocheck each had one goal and two assists for the Hurricanes, while Jaccob Slavin also scored. Teuvo Teravainen had three assists and Sebastian Aho had two.
Connor Clifton is the Bruins ’sole scorer. Jeremy Swayman stopped for 33 shots.
Slavin set the tone for the game by opening scoring 6:11 in the game, when his shot slipped under Swayman’s right arm.
DeAngelo then widened the gap to 12:17 of the first period, in power play. He defeated Swayman with a long accurate shot at the top.
Jarvis scored the next two goals for the Hurricanes, one in the second period just after power play and the other in the third period, also during the Hurricanes ’intense attack.
Clifton finally put the Bruins on the scoreboard with 10:09 of the final period, but did damage.
Trocheck closed the books by scoring on an empty net with 3:40 left on the clock.
Source: Radio-Canada
