John Tavares had his first playoff hat trick and the Toronto Maple Leafs bounced back from a rocky start to the playoffs with a comprehensive 7-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night to even out the first-round playoff series. of the teams to one game each.
Mitch Marner had two goals and an assist, William Nylander added a goal and an assist, and Zach Aston-Reese also scored for Toronto.
Morgan Rielly tied a franchise record with four assists. Auston Matthews also had two assists for the Maple Leafs, whose stars stepped up.
Mitchell Marner #16 of the Toronto Maple Leafs celebrates his second goal of the game against the Tampa Bay Lightning with teammates Jake McCabe #22, Auston Matthews #34 and TJ Brodie #78 during the second period of the second game of the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs 2023 at Scotiabank Arena on April 20, 2023 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images)
Ilya Samsonov made 19 saves for Toronto after being pulled in Tuesday’s 7-3 loss.
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Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Ilya Samsonov (35) makes a save against a deflected shot by Tampa Bay Lightning center Ross Colton (79) during the second period of game two in the Eastern Conference First Round between Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs on April 20, 2023 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, ON, Canada. (Gavin Napier/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Ian Cole and Corey Perry scored for the Lightning, who were without injured defensemen Victor Hedman and Erik Cernak.
LIGHTNING DOMINATE MAPLE LEAFS IN TORONTO TO TAKE GAME 1
Andrei Vasilevskiy, who has played every minute of Lightning postseason action since 2020, allowed seven goals on 35 shots.
Mitchell Marner #16 of the Toronto Maple Leafs celebrates scoring the first goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning in game two of the first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on April 20, 2023 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada . (Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
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The series moves to Florida, where Games 3 and 4 of the best-of-seven series are scheduled for Saturday and Monday.