TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING NOTES:
LAST GAME
Lightning 7 at Toronto 3
The Tampa Bay Lightning opened the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 7-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs April 18 at Scotiabank Arena to take a 1-0 lead in the series…Tampa Bay hit the seven-goal mark in a playoff game for the sixth time in franchise history (last: Game 4 vs. TOR, 2022)…The Bolts improved to 16-21 all-time in Game 1s of a playoff series, including an 8-9 mark on the road…The Lightning moved to 6-9 all- time in playoff openers and 5-4 under Jon Cooper…Pierre-Edouard Bellemare opened the scoring just 1:18 into the first period when he jumped on a rebound in front of the net off a shot from Corey Perry and jammed the puck past Ilya Samsonov to give Tampa Bay an early 1-0 lead…Exactly six minutes later, Brandon Hagel fired a shot on goal and Anthony Cirelli was right on the doorstep to fire the rebound past Samsonov and give the Bolts a 2-0 lead with 12:42 remaining in the opening period…With the Lightning on the power play and the clock winding down, Mikhail Sergachev took a pass from Alex Killorn and slid the puck right into the wheelhouse of Nikita Kucherov, who hammered a one-timer over the glove of Samsonov to give his team a 3-0 lead with 2.6 seconds remaining in the opening frame…TOR got back within one off back-to-back power-play goals from Ryan O’Reilly and William Nylander at the 8:06 and 13:11 marks of the second period that made it a 3-2 game…Brayden Point responded with a power-play goal just 1:18 after the Nylander goal when Cirelli sent a pass to Kucherov, who found Point in the slot before he beat Samsonov to give Tampa Bay a 4-2 lead with 5:31 remaining in the middle frame…With the Lightning on a five-minute power play after Michael Bunting was assessed a match penalty for an illegal check to the head of Erik Cernak, Perry and Point added two more power-play goals at the 17:54 and 19:58 marks of the second to give the Bolts a 6-2 lead heading into the second intermission…With 13:01 remaining in regulation, Nick Perbix found Ross Colton with a stretch pass that sent him in on a breakaway before he fired a quick shot to the blocker side and past Joseph Woll to extend the lead to 7-2…Calle Jarnkrok scored the final goal of the contest at the 8:06 mark of the third to make it 7-3…Andrei Vasilevskiy got the start in goal and earned the win with 28 saves on 31 shots against in his 100th career playoff start…Cernak, Mikey Eyssimont and Victor Hedman all left the game with injuries and were unable to return.
PP: TBL – 4-8 TOR – 2-4
SOG: TBL – 34 TOR – 31
Attendance: 19,013
TONIGHT’S MATCHUP
The Lightning and Maple Leafs are playing Game 2 of their best-of-seven First Round series in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs…Tampa Bay has won nine of their last 11 Game 2s and are 24-12 all-time in Game 2s…The Bolts are 11-3 all-time in road Game 2s…The Lightning have taken a 1-0 lead in a best-of-seven series 15 times in their playoff history and have gone on to win 13 of those series, including a 5-2 mark when starting a series on the road with a victory (losses: 2011 ECF vs. BOS; 2016 ECF vs. PIT)…Tampa Bay won last year’s series vs. TOR in seven games after dropping Game 1 at TOR, 5-0, and winning Game 7 at TOR, 2-1, with Nick Paul scoring both goals for the Bolts…Nikita Kucherov led all Lightning skaters with eight points in last year’s First Round (2-6—8), while Ross Colton (3-2—5) and Ondrej Palat (3-2—5) were tied for the team lead in goals…Tampa Bay posted a 1-2-0 record vs. TOR this regular season…Mikhail Sergachev (1-2—3) and Steven Stamkos (0-3—3) were tied for the Bolts team lead in points vs. TOR this reg. season, while Alex Killorn (2-0—2) and Vladislav Namestnikov (2-0—2) were tied for the team lead in goals…Kucherov has picked up points in 12 of his last 13 reg. season games vs. TOR (9-8—17)…Kucherov has found the scoresheet in 12 of his 15 career reg. season games at TOR (7-13—20)…Kucherov has picked up points in four of his last five playoff games vs. TOR (2-6—8)…Stamkos is riding a six-game reg. season point streak vs. TOR (2-10—12) and has picked up points in nine of the last 10 reg. season meetings (4-15— 19)…Stamkos has recorded 11 points over his last five reg. season games at TOR (3-8—11)…Killorn has recorded points in four of his last six reg. season games vs. TOR (4-3—7)…Corey Perry has four points over his last four reg. season games vs. TOR (0-4—4)…Sergachev has picked up four points over his last four reg. season games vs. TOR (1-3—4)…Tampa Bay is 6-3-1 in their last 10 reg. season road games at TOR and 4-5-1 in the last 10 reg. season meetings overall…The Lightning are 45-52-8 with two ties all-time in the reg. season vs. TOR, including a road record of 22-26-5 with one tie…Stamkos (22-39—61) holds the Tampa Bay franchise record for career reg. season points vs. TOR.
TBL ALL-TIME REG. SEASON POINT LEADERS VS. TOR
- Steven Stamkos – 61 pts. (22-39—61, 48 GP)
- Vincent Lecavalier – 52 pts. (22-30—52, 50 GP)
- Martin St. Louis – 49 pts. (18-31—49, 47 GP)
- Nikita Kucherov – 32 pts. (14-18—32, 31 GP)
- Brad Richards – 26 pts. (12-14—26, 27 GP)
TONIGHT’S STORYLINES
The Lightning have an all-time road playoff record of 61-41 and the best road playoff win percentage (.598) among all NHL teams (min. 2 GP)…The Bolts are 42-25 (.627) in 67 road playoff contests under head coach Jon Cooper…Tampa Bay has scored at least one power-play goal in six of their last seven playoff games vs. TOR…The Lightning are 122- 87 all-time in the postseason, good for the best playoff win percentage (.584) among all NHL teams (min. 2 GP).
INJURIES
2022-23 Regular Season Man Games Lost: 109
2023 Playoffs Man Games Lost: 1
Current Injuries:
Tanner Jeannot (Lower-body injury; Day-to-day) 4 Games
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS NOTES:
2023 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE, ROUND 1 vs. TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING
Game 1 – Tuesday, April 18th – 7:30 pm ET – Sportsnet (TV), TSN 1050 (Radio) – 3-7 L
Game 2 – Thursday, April 20th – 7:00 pm ET – Sportsnet (TV), Sportsnet 590 (Radio)
Game 3 – Saturday, April 22nd – 7:00 pm ET – Sportsnet (TV), Sportsnet 590 (Radio)
Game 4 – Monday, April 24th – 7:30 pm ET – Sportsnet (TV), TSN 1050 (Radio)
Game 5 – Thursday, April 27th – TBD – Sportsnet (TV), Sportsnet 590 (Radio)*
Game 6 – Saturday, April 29th – TBD – Sportsnet (TV), TSN 1050 (Radio)*
Game 7 – Monday, May 1st – TBD – Sportsnet (TV), 680 News (Radio)*
*If Necessary
THE SERIES
The Maple Leafs open the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs with a first round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Toronto is making their 72nd appearance in the postseason. The Maple Leafs have earned a postseason spot for the seventh-straight season. Earning a playoff spot in seven-consecutive seasons is the fourth-longest streak in franchise history. This marks the second time in franchise history that Toronto and Tampa Bay will be facing off in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
LAST GAME
Score: Toronto 3 vs. Tampa Bay 7
Date: Tuesday, April 18, 2023
TOR Goals: O’Reilly (PP), Nylander (PP), Järnkrok
TBL Goals: Bellemare, Cirelli, Kucherov (PP), Point (PP), Perry (PP), Point (PP), Colton
TOR Goaltender: Samsonov, 23/29, .793 SV% – Woll, 4/5, .800 SV%
TBL Goaltender: Vasilevskiy, 28/31, .903 SV%
TOR Power Play: 2-for-4
TOR Penalty Kill: 4-for-8
Player Notes: – Ryan O’Reilly scored on a Maple Leafs power play opportunity at 8:06 of the second period. O’Reilly scored his first playoff goal as a Maple Leaf and 23rd playoff goal of his playoff career. O’Reilly scored the eighth power play goal of his playoff career. – William Nylander scored on a Toronto power play opportunity at 13:11 of the second period. Nylander scored the 14th goal of his playoff career and the fourth power play goal of his playoff career.
- Calle Järnkrok scored for Toronto at 8:06 of the third period. Järnkrok scored his first playoff goal as a Maple Leaf and the fifth goal of his playoff career.
- Mitch Marner registered three assists in Tuesday’s loss. Marner tied a single-game Stanley Cup playoff career-high in assists and points with three, marking a playoff career-high in assists for the second occasion and a playoff career-high in points for the third occasion of his playoff career. Marner posted the 10th multi-point game of his playoff career.
- Auston Matthews recorded two assists for the Maple Leafs on Tuesday. Matthews tied a single-game Stanley Cup playoff career-high with two assists, which he has marked on four occasions during his playoff career. Matthews posted the ninth multi-point game of his playoff career.
- Jake McCabe and Joseph Woll made their Stanley Cup Playoffs debut during Tuesday’s game.
Team Notes: – Game 1 record in best-of-seven playoff series: 34-46 overall, 19-12 at home.
INJURY REPORT
Bobby McMann Knee (LTIR)
Victor Mete Lower Body (LTIR)
Matt Murray Head Injury (Day-to-Day)
Jake Muzzin Neck (LTIR)
Nick Robertson Shoulder (LTIR)
