First Round is now a best-of-three series

Just like that, we have a best-of-three series.
The Tampa Bay Lightning scored the fastest three goals to start a playoff game in franchise history on Sunday night en route to a decisive 7-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs at AMALIE Arena. It was a huge win for the Bolts, who tied the series up at two and avoided falling in a 3-1 hole and being on the brink of elimination from the postseason.
Teams that take a 3-1 lead in a best-of-seven series hold an all-time series record of 296-30, which translates to the leading team advancing to the next round 91% of the time. Now the series has an entirely different look to it with each team holding two wins ahead of Tuesday's Game 5 at Scotiabank Arena.

When a best-of-seven series is tied 2-2, the winner of Game 5 holds an all-time series record of 219-58 or a 79% series victory rate. Whoever drops Game 5 will be far from eliminated, but if the Bolts had fell in Game 4, history would have been against them in a big way.
The Lightning have found themselves in a series tied at two on 12 previous occasions in franchise history and have recorded a 6-6 record. The Maple Leafs obviously have a history that dates back significantly further than Tampa Bay's. Toronto has been in 37 previous series tied at two and have posted a 20-17 record, winning 54% of those series.
Tampa Bay has now recorded multiple series-tying wins after dropping Games 1 and 3 and responding with victories in Games 2 and 4. The last time the Lightning posted multiple series-tying wins was during their first-round series against the Detroit Red Wings in 2015. The Bolts won Games 2, 4 and 6 before taking Game 7 and advancing to the second round.
One player the Lightning will look to lead them heading into Game 5 is star winger Nikita Kucherov, who recorded two assists in Sunday's Game 4 win for his second multi-point game of the playoffs. His five points (1G, 4A) through four games lead all Tampa Bay forwards.
Sunday's performance marked the 38th multi-point playoff game of Kucherov's illustrious, but still fairly young, career. Among active NHL skaters, only Sidney Crosby (67) and Evgeni Malkin (52) have more postseason multi-point games.
Kucherov made his playoff debut with the Bolts in 2014. Since then, he's posted 11 more multi-point games than the next-closest skater. Crosby is closest to Kucherov with 27 multi-point games each over the eight-year span.

Another player the Lightning will continue to lean on, as they do in every postseason, is defenseman Victor Hedman, who leads all Tampa Bay skaters with six points (1G, 5A) over the first four games of the playoffs.
What a year it's been for Hedman, who posted new career highs in goals (20), assists (65), points (85), power-play goals (6), power-play points (38), and game-winning goals (6) during the regular season. The assist and point totals set new Tampa Bay franchise records for a defenseman and his 20 goals tied Dan Boyle (2006-07) for the most in Lightning history.
With numbers like that, it shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that Hedman was voted as a Norris Trophy finalist for the sixth-straight year on Monday. Awarded to "the defense player who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position," the Norris Trophy was won by Hedman in 2018.
Hedman is the first defenseman to be a Norris Trophy finalist for six straight seasons since fellow Swede Nicklas Lidstrom did it from 1997-98 through 2002-03.
"I just can't believe he's been in the league this long at the age he's at and he's still having such a positive effect," said Tampa Bay head coach Jon Cooper. "But, I've said this year in, year out in the playoffs - when Victor Hedman's rolling, usually our team's rolling. It's always a good sign when he's playing like the way he is."
Hedman's 20 goals and 85 points ranked third among all NHL defensemen this season, while his 65 assists ranked second. The big Swede recorded 2,056:12 worth of time on ice this season, trailing only San Jose's Brent Burns, who logged 2,144:02 over all 82 games.
On Tuesday, Brandon Hagel was asked what has stuck about Victor Hedman since he joined the Lightning at this year's trade deadline.
"How big he is and how fast he can move," said Hagel with a smile. "You never see someone like that being able to move just as quick as anyone on the ice. It's insane.
"The way he moves the puck, the way he shoots the puck, his poise - it's unbelievable.
"Even playing against him when I was in Chicago was never fun. Obviously, that's one guy that every team looks at and wishes they had on their team and, thankfully, he's on ours."
It will be a big test on Tuesday night for the Lightning, who will have to win at least one more game in Toronto in order to advance to the second round.
After the Bolts fell in Game 3 following their Game 2 win in Toronto, Tampa Bay will look to replicate their performance from Sunday's Game 4, starting with their urgency and work ethic.

"You definitely can't be taking any shifts off," Hagel said. "I think it's just a momentum factor, as everyone's seen throughout the games.
"I think every shift matters. Every shift counts. You can't take one off.
"It doesn't matter what line you're on or who you are. If you're the best player in the league or you're in the middle of the pack, it doesn't matter who you are. We can't have anyone taking time off."
Over the past several years, the Lightning have transformed from a team that was trying to figure out how to win to a team that knows how to win in the playoffs. With veteran leaders all throughout the lineup, the Bolts feel confident that they'll be ready to go tonight for Game 5.
"There's a bunch of guys in there," Cooper explained. "Probably years ago, it was more Stamkos and that would be the only guy that speaks. Now he's just one of the voices that speaks and there's a group of guys.
"It can range from Maroon, who doesn't get the ice time other guys do, but feels extremely comfortable in speaking up, to Perry to McDonagh to Hedman to Killorn. You can go down the list.
"Bellemare's another one that always has something meaningful to say. We're not short of that in the room, which has probably helped us along the way here."
With the leadership in the dressing room and the big opportunity standing in front of them, Cooper has the utmost faith that his team will be ready to go come 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday night.
"If you're not motivated for a playoff series, Game 5, tied 2-2, then you're probably playing the wrong sport," Cooper said. "I'll be shocked if we don't come out playing hard."