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This year’s Lightning and Maple Leafs Collectible Series ice hockey features images of Steven Stamkos and Auston Matthews. That’s appropriate, since the captains dropped their gloves in the third quarter of Game 3 of the two teams’ first-round series.
Tampa Bay and Toronto didn’t meet in the playoffs until last spring. That’s too bad, because the team has put on a solid show, including the aforementioned scrap. Even in a one-sided matchup, the Chargers and Leafs provided reasons to keep watching.
If last year’s first-round seven-game series wasn’t enticing enough, the Chargers won the series en route to their third straight Stanley Cup final, the first three games of this year’s series offer plenty of rewind DVR time.
In the series, the Maple Leafs took a 2-1 lead after a 4-3 overtime win in Game 3, with both teams sweeping Toronto. While there was no drama in terms of the results of the first two games at the Scotiabank Arena, it made headlines as Michael Bunting hit Eric Cernak in the head and missed both games. . The former is eligible to return for Game 5 after a three-game suspension, while the latter remains unknown after suffering a possible concussion after being injured and sidelined in Game 4.
Match 3 won’t be forgotten anytime soon. First off, Leafs fans must be happy that their team won a playoff game that was beaten. Goalkeeper Ilya Samsonov did what goalkeeper Andrei Vasilevsky has done countless times in recent years: be different.
“We’ve lost a lot of this (and that) over the last few years,” Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said. “Tampa Bay is better than us in many ways, but our people are there.”
What happened at 5:04 of the third period got everyone in the building on their feet. Brayden Point had a scary moment after he and Morgan Rielly hit the backboard while chasing the puck. Point, with his hands on his chest, had to be helped off the ice. Rielly was assessed a grand slam, but the result was overturned without penalty. Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov took off the gloves with Matthews and Ryan O’Reilly respectively.
Not only did Tampa Bay, which was leading 3-2 at the time, have to eke out about eight minutes without Stamkos and Kucherov — Toronto also had Matthews and O’Reilly — thanks to a first-timer after the game. The second stoppage slam came a few minutes later, and about six minutes before Point made his surprise return, the Chargers found themselves short-handed as Kucherov also picked a rough minor.
Having to kill a penalty because they were coming out of the scrum, Keefe felt the Chargers took advantage of the situation by allowing Matthews and O’Reilly to occupy the visitors’ box.
“This is a classic example of an established championship team like Tampa Bay manipulating officials and taking advantage of the situation,” he said. “They know we’ve basically had a strong game because of Kucherov (minors), so it’s free for everyone. They can do whatever they want, and they know they won’t get penalized again because of the way the game was called. .
“Thanks to Tampa for recognizing this situation,” Keefe continued after his team scored the game-winning goal from Riley with 45 seconds left in overtime. “It’s a free pass, you can do what you want. Not only did they get away with it unscathed, but they also took Matthews and O’Reilly to the penalty area. In that situation, the Chargers played very well.” outstanding.”
For the record, it was the seventh time in Stamkos’ career and the first in the playoffs since facing the Rangers’ Jason Lafreniere in the Eastern Conference Finals last June. Eliminated twice. Kucherov and Matthews? A crowd of 19,092 at the Amalie Arena witnessed the first for both sides.
After exiting Game 1 (with an undisclosed injury) and missing Game 2, the Chargers held on to a 3-2 lead in the ensuing penalty shootout, with defenseman Victor Hedman back in the lineup. That’s a lead they believe should be two. Point appeared to give the Chargers a two-goal lead with 4:19 left in the second quarter when he homed a loose puck off Samsonov’s skate. Upon review, it was determined that the whistle was blown.
“I don’t know why he blew the whistle,” said Jon Cooper, whose team has lost three straight playoff games on home ice, dating back to last year’s cup final against the Avalanche. “It’s shocking. The whole building, 20,000 people sitting there seeing (the puck). I don’t know what the ref blows the whistle for. I don’t understand.
On top of that, Sam Lafferty, acquired by the Leafs from Chicago at the trade deadline, was fined ($3,108) for cross-checking Ross Colton high in the second quarter.
The way these teams have played against each other in their short postseason history, it won’t be surprising if there’s still a lot of hockey in this series.
“It’s a seven-game series,” said the Bolts’ Brandon Hagel. “Their road is long, and our road is long.”
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