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The Toronto Maple Leafs hoped that the changes in their roster and upgrades in all areas would lead to more positive results in their second meeting with the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but the two-time Cup champions jumped on the Leafs early and took advantage of their mental fragility in a 7-3 drubbing at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday.
The Leafs tendency toward defensive giveaways and Tampa’s aggressiveness at the outset led the Lightning to gain the lead 78 seconds into the first period, extend their lead before Toronto began to respond and score a pair of goals at the end of period to effectively take the wind out of their sails.
Trailing 3-0, the Leafs were able to seize on a pair of power play opportunities, as Ryan O’Reilly and William Nylander narrowed the gap to 3-2, but Toronto once again displayed their penchant for surrendering momentum, as Brayden Point’s goal 78 seconds after Nylander’s tally slammed the door on any comeback. Corey Perry and Point’s second goal on the man advantage with two seconds left in the middle frame chased Ilya Samsonov.
“There were some uncharacteristic goals against, where we were loose around our net. That has been a strength of ours all season long, both in our goaltending and managing rebounds and in our defending on the inside.… A puzzled Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said after his club’s disastrous showing. “Those two tap-ins that we gave there are uncharacteristic for us. They certainly won the battles around the net tonight.…
It is tough to imagine a worse scenario for Toronto after Game 1. Samsonov after a strong regular season and going 19-3-3 at home allowed six goals on 29 shots before being pulled in favor of rookie Joseph Woll in the third. The club once again showed areas of concern that Tampa exploited, including winning battles in front of the net and cashing in on loose pucks. Leafs defenseman Justin Holl was again victimized on Pierre-Edouard Bellmare’s opening goal and Corey Perry’s jam job late in the second period.
While the criticism of the officiating might be justified to fans, the Leafs in the end gave one of the best power plays in the NHL eight chances on the man advantage, including a five-minute major to Michael Bunting for a high hit on Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak.
Bunting isn't looking at Cernak but head contact is head contact pic.twitter.com/FpSNZG4s4S
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) April 19, 2023
Bunting is having a hearing with the NHL’s Department of Player Safety on Wednesday afternoon and based on their line changes at practice on Wednesday, the Leafs is expecting the rambunctious forward to be suspended. Calle Jarnkrok was moved up to the top line to play with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, while Alex Kerfoot shifted to his all-too-familiar spot on the left side with John Tavares and Nylander. O’Reilly not surprisingly was moved to the third line, centering Noel Acciari and rookie Matthew Knies.
It is unknown whether the Leafs will give the 20-year-old his first NHL playoff start or whether Keefe will go with 11 forwards and seven defensemen. That determination will be made on Thursday before Game 2.