The Tampa Bay Lightning’s Quest for the Cup will continue after a nail-biting 2-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Saturday’s victory marks the Lightning’s ninth consecutive playoff series advance.
The second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs will pit the Lightning against cross-state rival The Florida Panthers, who beat the Washington Capitals 4-3 in overtime on Friday.
The Panthers will have a home-ice advantage for the second round.
FIRST PERIOD
On the ice, Nick Paul scored late in the first period— his first postseason goal. Also in the first period, Brayden Point suffered an injury after a hard hit into the boards.
Tampa Bay led the Maple Leafs 1-0 at the end of the first period.
SECOND PERIOD
During the second period, Morgan Rielly scored for the Maple Leafs to tie the game at 1 to 1. A short time later, Nick Paul scored again.
The second period ended with Tampa Bay having a 2 to 1 lead.
THIRD PERIOD
During the third period, the Maple Leafs continued to put the pressure on the Lightning, but couldn’t find success.
Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 30 shots for the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions. Morgan Rielly scored for Toronto, which hasn’t reached the second round since 2004 and is now 0-9 in elimination games over the last five postseasons. Jack Campbell had 23 saves.
