The NHL is famous for its wealth of unpredictable events, but some of the league's scripts are still written far in advance. Confrontation “Tampa Bay Lightning” with the “Toronto Maple Leafs” is proof of this. Ever since the Lightning's victory over the Leafs in last year's playoffs, many were jokingly waiting for revenge in the first round of the new Stanley Cup. But during the regular season of the 2022/23 season, there was no time for jokes — 2-3 months before the playoffs, it was formally clear that Tampa and Toronto would meet again in the first round, and two weeks before the start of the tournament this the couple has officially decided.
And if in the Lightning camp they reacted calmly to such an alignment, then the side that connects its life with the Maple Leafs remained at a loss. On the one hand, Toronto, gaining momentum, could not think of a better opportunity to break the curse of the first round with a rematch against the Lightning. On the other hand, the Lightning is an extremely uncomfortable and very powerful opponent with some of the best hockey players in the world in every line. This is Andrey Vasilevsky, who calmly wins series after series, and the impenetrable system of the cunning John Cooper, and, of course, the power of Nikita Kucherov.
The Russian leader «Lightning» is very demanding of himself, he comes first at every training session and constantly works to improve his skills. In the last regular season, he scored 113 points (30 goals and 83 assists), but in the playoffs, it seems he is ready to level up again. Nikita from the very first match of the series with “Toronto” began to tear and throw for the dream of winning his third Stanley Cup. The same goal was pursued by his teammates, who knocked down the poor fellow from the Maple Leafs in the starting period.
After quick goals from the representatives of the fourth and second links, Pierre-Edouard Bellmare and Anthony Cirelli, respectively, Kucherov himself hit the gate with an accurate one-timer. For Nikita, this goal was the 53rd in his career in 137 playoff matches, and according to this indicator, the Russian was ahead of Patrick Kane. Of the current players, Kuch is second only to veterans: Alexander Ovechkin (72 goals), Sidney Crosby (71), Evgeni Malkin (67) and Joe Pavelski (67). — three pucks. In total, as many as seven of these visited the gates of Toronto, of which six fell to the lot of Ilya Samsonov. The Russian goalkeeper of the “leaves” helped the team as best he could, but the guests from the state of Florida acted in an openly mocking manner. Kucherov recorded two more assists at his own expense, thanks to which:
- became the 19th player in NHL history to play at least 45 playoff games with at least two points per game, and only third — among active league players after Sidney Crosby (76 matches) and Evgeni Malkin (53);
- became the fourth-most playoff player in NHL history with three or more points per game (21), leaving behind Jaromir Jagr. Only Wayne Gretzky (59 matches), Mark Messier (30) and Jari Kurri (28) are ahead of Nikita.
Toronto had no arguments against such power. Even Mitchell Marner and Auston Matthews, taking into account the points scored (two each), were in the shadows for most of the game, which is unlikely to add optimism to Maple Leafs fans who dream of a long-awaited exit in the second round of the playoffs. In the current situation, the “leaves” can only rely on losses in the opponent's camp, which are very possible.
During the first game of the series, Tampa lost useful forward Mikey Eissimont and two of their leading defensemen Eric Chernak and Victor Hedman.
First two hit hard games from opponents, but Hedman's damage remains mysterious. Even Lightning mentor John Cooper couldn't find an explanation for what happened to the Lightning defense leader. Because of this uncertainty in the strategically important components for «Tampa» Toronto can still count on success. But for this you need to make your own efforts, which no one saw in the first match.