Toronto 4, Tampa Bay 3
When: 7:00 PM ET, Monday, February 12, 2018
Where: Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Ontario
Referees:
Dave Jackson, Francois St. Laurent
Linesmen:
Darren Gibbs, Steve Miller
Attendance:
19112
By Field Level Media
James van Riemsdyk broke a tie game with the game-winning goal in the third period as the Toronto Maple Leafs won their fifth straight at home, beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 at the Air Canada Centre on Monday.
William Nylander had two goals, and Jake Gardiner also scored for Toronto. The win was the Maple Leafs' eighth in nine games and fourth straight.
Auston Matthews had three assists for the Maple Leafs, while Nylander and Gardiner also posted helpers.
Alex Killorn and Nikita Kucherov each notched a goal and an assist for Tampa Bay. Yanni Gourde had the Lightning's other goal.
Toronto goaltender Frederik Andersen had 31 saves while Andrei Vasilevskiy made 19 saves for the Lightning.
Once ahead 3-0, Toronto regained the lead when van Riemsdyk's shot from the left circle was initially stopped by Vasilevskiy but trickled in at 4:39 of the third for his 23rd goal.
Nylander opened the scoring at 11:55 of the first. Matthews won a faceoff, then took control of a deflected shot by Gardiner from the point. Matthews slid a pass to the left circle where Nylander snapped a one-timer past Vasilevskiy on the short side.
Andersen stuffed Tyler Johnson's short-handed attempt as the Lightning forward had a breakaway with 5:55 left in the opening period.
Matthews fed Nylander again in the second period after a turnover at the Toronto blue line led to a breakaway.
Nylander streaked in and fired his 14th goal on a high shot over Vasilevskiy on the stick side at 3:08 for a 2-0 lead.
Gardiner's curl-and-drag snap shot after a drop pass by Nylander gave Toronto a 3-0 lead at 11:36 of the middle period.
It was Gardiner's fourth goal and the third point of the game for both Nylander and Matthews.
Killorn scored his 10th goal at 15:59 of the second period on a rebound to put the Lightning on the board.
Kucherov beat Andersen 58 seconds into the third period for his 30th goal, then Gourde scored his 21st on a tip-in 20 seconds later to tie it 3-3.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
Tampa Bay |
|
Toronto |
Alex Killorn 2 |
Points |
William Nylander 3 |
Alex Killorn 1 |
Goals |
William Nylander 2 |
Alex Killorn 1 |
Assists |
Auston Matthews 3 |
N/A |
Power Play Goals |
N/A |
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
N/A |
Andrei Vasilevskiy .826 |
Save Percentage |
Frederik Andersen .912 |
Andrei Vasilevskiy 19 |
Saves |
Frederik Andersen 31 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
Tampa Bay
|
34 |
3 |
0-2 |
1-1 |
2 |
31 |
Toronto
|
23 |
4 |
0-1 |
2-2 |
4 |
29 |
Upcoming Games
-
Toronto will play their next game at home against Columbus. The Maple Leafs have a W/L % of .606 after a win and .560 after a loss.
-
Tampa Bay will play their next game on the road against Buffalo. The Lightning have a W/L % of .641 after a win and .765 after a loss.