The second period was the difference on Monday night as the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning by a 5-2 score at Scotiabank Arena.
The Maple Leafs scored four times in the second period to break open a game that was tied 1-1 through 20 minutes of hockey.
Tampa Bay is now 3-2-0 this season.
William Nylander opened the scoring 3 minutes, 57 seconds into the game, but Bolts forward Nick Paul evened the score on a breakaway. Paul made a move with the puck that was saved by Toronto goalie Anthony Stolarz, but Maple Leaf defender Simon Benoit deflected the puck into his own net to tie the game at 15:57 of the first period.
Leafs captain Auston Matthews tucked a loose puck through the legs of Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy to take advantage of a power play less than two minutes into the second period, the first of four second-period goals for Toronto.
Nylander scored his second goal of the game 7:33 into the middle frame, and Max Pacioretty made it 4-1 Toronto less than two minutes later. Matthew Knies extended Toronto’s lead to 5-1 with a breakaway goal at 14:02 of the second.
Brayden Point scored his third goal of the season on the power play with 5:07 left in the game, taking a feed from Nikita Kucherov in the left corner and finding the net behind Stolarz. An assist on the goal extended Kucherov’s season-opening point streak to five games.
Lightning goalies Andrei Vasilevskiy and Jonas Johansson split the game. Vasilevskiy finished with 10 saves, while Johansson stopped 14 of 15 shots in relief.
The Bolts now turn their attention to the second half of a back-to-back as they visit New Jersey (5-2-1 this season) at Prudential Center on Tuesday.
Scoring Summary
1st Period
TOR 1, TBL 0
3:57 William Nylander (4) – Max Domi
The home team scored first on Monday night after possessing the puck inside the Tampa Bay Lightning zone for the majority of the game’s opening minutes. William Nylander was left alone before burying a one-timer from the slot, beating Andrei Vasilevskiy on the glove side.
TOR 1, TBL 1
15:57 Nick Paul (2) - Victor Hedman, Mitchell Chaffee
A Nick Paul breakaway tied Monday’s game with just over four minutes remaining in the first period. Paul snuck behind the Toronto defense, and Lightning captain Victor Hedman cleared the puck to a waiting Paul at the far blueline. Paul deked for a shot on goal before Toronto defender Simon Benoit lost his footing and slid into the loose puck, pushing it through Toronto goalie Anthony Stolarz for the equalizer.
Shots: TBL 11, TOR 7
2nd Period
TOR 2, TBL 1
1:56 Auston Matthews (3) - Mitch Marner, William Nylander - PP
Toronto regained its lead on the power play early in the second period. Maple Leafs wing Mitch Marner released a shot on Vasilevsky from the right faceoff circle, and captain Auston Matthews tucked home the rebound when the puck dropped between Vasilevskiy’s legs.
TOR 3, TBL 1
7:33 Nylander (5) - Bobby McMann
Nylander buried his second goal of the night on Toronto’s 13th shot of the game. Nylander opted to shoot on a 2-on-1, bouncing a shot from the right circle off of Vasilevskiy’s right pad and through the five-hole to extend Toronto’s lead.
TOR 4, TBL 1
9:31 Max Pacioretty (2) - John Tavares, Conor Timmins
Forward Max Pacioretty scored the home team’s third goal of the period on a one-timer from just inside the left side of the blueline.
TOR 5, TBL 1
14:02 Matthew Knies (2) - Marner
Toronto’s Matthew Knies scored on a breakaway late in the second period after two Lightning players collided at the Tampa Bay blueline.
Shots: TBL 16, TOR 11
3rd Period
TOR 5, TBL 2
14:53 Brayden Point (3) - Nikita Kucherov, Victor Hedman - PP
Brayden Point scored on a power play with five minutes remaining in the game. Hedman fed Kucherov in the corner, and the latter faked a one-timer before tapping the puck to Point in front of the net. Point deposited the puck into the net after Stolarz fell for Kucherov’s fake.
TOR 6, TBL 2
Final shots: TBL 34, TOR 29
