In Tampa, John Tavares scored in extra time to give the Toronto Maple Leafs a 2-1 win over the Lightning on Saturday night.
“I got the puck up high and interchanged with [Mitchell Marner], and I thought most of the coverage would go to him,” Tavares said. “But they read it well and I just kept the puck in. … With the space that I had and knowing [Morgan Rielly] went to the net, I said let’s throw it there and see what happens.”
The victory sends the Leafs to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, something they have not done since 2004.
Tavares seemed to have the puck on his stick with glue as he skated around the boards until he circled back to the left circle a second time, turned and wristed a shot that trickled into the net for the winner at 4:36.
Ilya Samsonov made 31 saves in the win.
“I’m so excited, this is a big deal for us,” Samsonov said. “It was a good battle. Everybody did a great job. … It doesn’t matter how you win, in overtime or whatever, just get four wins.”
To call the Maple Leafs ecstatic would be an understatement.
“It’s been a long time coming, a long time coming for a lot of players in our room, long time coming for myself, long time coming for Leafs Nation. … It’s a big deal,” Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said. “You see that puck find its way in the net and it’s just an incredible moment. Playoff hockey is incredible. This whole night was incredible.”
Tampa lost as the defending Eastern Conference champs from last season.
“This team hasn’t lost a series in the Eastern Conference since 2019. It’s 2023,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. “We’re not used to this feeling. I don’t know, I can’t think of the word. It just doesn’t feel good.”
After a scoreless first period, Auston Matthews scored from the right circle at 13:47 of the middle frame.
“There’s no shame in the effort that we put in, maybe the execution at times wasn’t great,” Stamkos said. “No one should go home feeling like we didn’t leave it on the ice. I thought we played better 5-on-5 hockey than we did last year. Maybe we got some bounces last year. That’s a good hockey team over there. It [stinks] when it doesn’t go your way.”
The game stayed there until 4:11 of the third when Steven Stamkos tied on a rebound goal.
“It feels good. Obviously, we worked for this all year long. It wasn’t an easy win in any terms,” the Leafs’ Mitchell Marner said. “It’s a special moment, but we can’t be satisfied. There’s a lot more ahead and we’ve got to be ready for it.”
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 20 saves in the loss.
“At some point, you’re not going to get the break, that’s just the way it is,” Cooper said. “And for [Toronto], that has struggled in the playoffs, at some point they were going to get a break. It just [stinks] that it was in a series against us.”
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