Game Seven. Two of the most exciting words in playoff hockey. Tonight, the Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs look to advance to the next round of the Stanley Cup playoffs to face-off against the Florida Panthers.
In Game Six, the Tampa Bay Lightning won it in overtime with the game-winner from Brayden Point, and you can read up on that game recap here.
Without further ado, let’s move on to the game recap, scores, and highlights.
Tampa Bay Lightning Lines and Defencive Pairings
Toronto Maple Leafs Lines and Defencive Pairings
Game Recap
In the first period, there is furious action from the Maple Leafs. The action slows down with possession going across both sides of the ice. At 7:55 in the period, Toronto heads to the power play when Tampa’s Brandon Hagel is sent off for a Tripping call. At 10:06, Tampa Bay heads to their first power play of the night when Mark Giordano heads off for a Delay of Game penalty when he deflects the puck into the stands. At 17:11, Tampa Bay’s Brayden Point leg seemed to have given out from under him after some slight contact with Toronto’s Mark Giordano and Point does skate off the ice, but Point did not place any weight on his left leg, needing help from Lightning captain Steven Stamkos. Upon reaching the Lightning bench, Point and a team trainer head off to the locker room to further evaluate the Point injury. At 18:24, the Lightning get on the board when Nick Paul scores his first career NHL playoff goal to give the Lightning the 1-0 lead. 11 seconds later, Toronto heads to their second power play of the evening when Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos heads off for a Holding call. The first period comes to an end with the Lightning heading into the intermission with the 1-0 lead.
In the second period, Brayden Point does return to the Tampa bench. Also, the minor penalty resumes, with 35 seconds left on the Toronto power play. Toronto looked to have evened up the game, but Justin Holl is called for an Interference call, thus negating the goal and giving the Lightning their second power play of the night. Toronto finally responds when Morgan Rielly scores his third of the playoffs when the puck goes right over Tampa Bay netminder’s Andrei Vasilevskiy’s glove to tie the contest 1-1 at 13:25. At 16:32, Tampa Bay re-takes the lead when Nicolas Paul strikes with his second of the night. We head to the second intermission with Tampa Bay leading 2-1.
In the third period, at 3:58, there is a collision between Nicolas Paul and Toronto netminder Jack Campbell in the net, and both are shaken up a bit but both players stay on the ice to resume action. Toronto heads to their third power play when Ondrej Palat goes off for a Hooking penalty on Mitchell Marner, and the Leafs look to strike to make this a 2-2 game. The power play comes to an end, with Toronto getting off seven shots in the extra-man advantage, but none of those resulted in a goal, and we remain at a 2-1 Lightning lead. Toronto goes with the empty net at 2:26 to bring on the extra attacker for the Leafs, hoping to tie the contest and send it to overtime. Tampa Bay goes on to defeat Toronto, and face the Florida Panthers in the second round.
Scoring and Penalty Summary
1st
TB Penalty: Brandon Hagel for Tripping – 2 min minor – 07:55
TOR Penalty: Mark Giordano for Delay of Game-Puck over Glass – 2 min minor – 10:06
TB Goal: Nicolas Paul (1) – Assisted by Ross Colton (2) – 18:24
TB Penalty: Steven Stamkos for Holding – 2 min minor – 18:35
2nd
TOR Penalty: Justin Holl for Interference – 2 min minor – 08:32
TOR Goal: Morgan Rielly (3) – Assisted by Auston Matthews (5) and Mitchell Marner (6) – 13:25
TB Goal: Nicolas Paul (2) – Unassisted – 16:32
3rd
TB Penalty: Ondrej Palat for Hooking – 2 min minor – 06:19
Period by Period Statistical Summary
1st
| Tampa Bay – 1 | Toronto – 0 | |
| Faceoffs | 08 | 11 |
| Power Play | 0/1 | 0/2* :35 left in PP |
| Shots | 08 | 07 |
| Hits | 16 | 16 |
2nd
| Tampa Bay – 2 | Toronto – 1 | |
| Faceoffs | 16 | 21 |
| Power Play | 0/2 | 0/2 |
| Shots | 19 | 14 |
| Hits | 29 | 28 |
3rd
| Tampa Bay – 2 | Toronto – 1 | |
| Faceoffs | 24 | 38 |
| Power Play | 0/2 | 0/3 |
| Shots | 25 | 31 |
| Hits | 37 | 39 |
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