In Toronto, the Tampa Bay Lightning scored twice in the third period en route to a 4-2 win in Game 56 on Thursday night.
The win shaves the series deficit to 3-2 heading home for Game 6 on Saturday.
“They dug their heels in tonight, and I think who really dug his heels in tonight was [Vasilevskiy],” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. “His name has come up a lot for various reasons over the last couple days, and I think he proved he could handle the high shots.”
The Lightning carried a 2-1 lead in the game into the third period.
Nicholas Paul scored at 11:53 to extend the Lightning advantage to 3-1.
“I think that was an answer tonight,” Paul said. “Even after the last couple of games when we let it slip, we knew we were coming to Toronto, we’re winning this and we’re taking it back home.”
Auston Matthews trimmed the deficit to 3-2 at 16:26
“We had some good chances and didn’t capitalize on them,” Matthews said. “We were in a good position at 2-1 heading into the third, and I just think the third goal puts ourselves in a tough hole to get out of. We kept fighting to the end, but obviously it wasn’t enough.”
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 28 saves in the Tampa win.
“When you have a team like this, you don’t want to let these opportunities slide,” Tampa Bay defenseman Victor Hedman said. “We’ve got a phenomenal team. [We] have all the tools, and these are the type of games you want to play. There’s question in that room about fatigue or that we’ve played a lot of hockey.
“These are the type of games we want to play. It was a tough situation going into a place like this with our backs up against the wall, but I think we responded really well.”
Alex Killorn hit an empty net for the 4-2 final with five seconds left on the game clock.
Morgan Rielly scored at 5:46 of the first period to give the Maple Leafs an early 1-0 lead.
“We’re just confident with our group,” Rielly said. “We’re here for a reason, we play good hockey, we beat them in this series and can do it again. We didn’t expect them to roll over, and now it’s important for our group to go on the road with a mission.”
The lead lasted all of 26 seconds when Anthony Cirelli tied it in the first for Tampa.
“Ever since I’ve come to Tampa, each and every night, Vasilevskiy has been our best player,” Cirelli said. “He’s back there making saves for us, he’s a rock for us back there and when he’s making those saves, he gives us huge momentum boosts, keeps us in games and gets us going.”
Michael Eyssimont pushed the Lightning into the lead at 2-1 in the middle frame.
“I had to get around that [defenseman] and he’s a great goalie, so sometimes you have to be a little crafty and it’s just (a move) I’ve worked on with (assistant coach Jeff Halpern) at morning skates, so I figured I’d try it,” Eyssimont said.
Ilya Samsonov made 34 saves in the Maple Leafs loss.
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