Tampa Bay Lightning vs Toronto Maple Leafs» in the NHL has long grown from an ordinary hockey duel into something higher and more principled. The last face-to-face meetings of the teams in the current playoff draw are proof of this. Against the background of the high level of skill of the players and the bright, productive hockey, the clarification of personal relationships between individuals was especially played out. That is why the number of penalty minutes, coupled with disciplinary punishments, have become commonplace for the battles of «lightning» and «leaves».
After the craziness that occurred in the second match of the series, when, in addition to the score (7:2 in favor of the Maple Leafs), the total number of penalty minutes for both teams combined (72) turned out to be large, it was easy to assume that there would be fire in the third meeting not less. The battle moved to Tampa, and the Lightning, in front of their fans, were obliged not only to win, but to destroy the opponent in all respects.
Almost exactly in this format and the match was held, although in the first period, the “lightning” had to act again in the role of vengeance. Anthony Cirelli promptly responded to Noel Accari's quick goal, and Brandon Hagel answered Auston Matthews' first goal in this playoff. And if in the first 20-minute “Toronto” still cope with the pressure of the hosts, the second period of John Cooper's gang upped the already fast pace. Barely leaving the locker room on the ice after the break, the “lightning” brought down a hail of shots on the gates of Ilya Samsonov. And the Russian effectively coped with them, neutralizing, among other things, the 1 v 0 run by Jeannot Tanner.
But Darren Reddish, in the middle of the period, nevertheless broke through the protection of the goalkeeper of the Maple Leafs and brought Tampa ahead, gaining his first career scoring point in the NHL playoffs. A little later, the Lightning should have increased the lead in the score, but the judges intervened.
The arbitrators made the dubious decision to cancel Braden Point's goal, believing that Samsonov managed to cover the puck. However, on video replays, it is clear that the Toronto goalkeeper did not do this, and Point calmly ferried her into the net. In most cases, a goal would have been fixed, but not this time.
It is worth noting that the referees continued to act favorably towards the “leaves”. In the third period, they did not punish Morgan Reilly for a frankly rough reception against Point, who was dangerously pushed into the boards by the visiting Canadian defender. Forward “Tampa” because of the injury could not immediately rise to his feet, and subsequently went to the locker room, where he was given medical care. It is noteworthy that according to the results of the episode, «Toronto» not only avoided a large removal (and Reilly could be punished with 5 minutes and even removal before the end of the meeting), but also received a numerical advantage.
Due to Reilly's dirty reception, a brawl immediately broke out on the site. So, the Russian striker «Lightning» Nikita Kucherov took revenge on the Canadian from «Toronto» for his friend, knocking him down on the ice with a wrestling technique, and later Kuch was not afraid to get into a fight with almost 100-pound Ryan O'Reilly. In total, Nikita received 7 penalty minutes (2 for being rude against Reilly and 5 for fighting O'Reilly). According to the same points, Kucherov's rivals were punished, respectively, and Steven Stamkos and Auston Matthews grabbed another 5 minutes of removal for a fight. An additional minor fine was issued to Tampa for rudeness on the part of Darren Ruddish. And although Toronto did not use the numerical advantage, at the very end of regular time, the Canadians achieved their goal — a minute before the siren, when the Maple Leafs were already playing with an empty net, O'Reilly succeeded in an accurate shot.
In overtime, “Tampa” continued to put pressure on Samsonov's gate, but failed to beat Ilya. The save of the Russian goalkeeper “Toronto” after Kucherov's throw turned out to be especially spectacular. Forward «Lightning» skillfully «removed» the defender and beautifully threw from the backhand, but hit the goalkeeper. For the full drama, only one thing was missing — the winning goal of Toronto. And he happened. And its author was … Morgan Reilly, who avoided a big removal. The Canadian took Andrei Vasilevsky by surprise and brought the “leaves” victory less than a minute before the end of overtime.
2-1 — Toronto took the lead in the series. Now “Tampa” is, if not on the verge of historical failure, then close to it. The Maple Leafs, on the other hand, are approaching their cherished dream of finally getting past the first round stage.