Toronto Maple Leafs strike down Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 in OT

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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Toronto Maple Leafs strike down Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 in OT. Here are the game highlights and summary. 

GAME SUMMARY         |           EVENT SUMMARY        |           FACEOFF SUMMARY

ON THE SCORESHEET

Antoine Bibeau stopped 25 Lightning shots in tonight’s game to secure his first career NHL win.

Nazem Kadri scored the game-winning goal for the Maple Leafs on the power play at 3:37 of overtime. The goal is Kadri’s third game-winning goal of the season, which is tied for the team lead (Mitch Marner).

Auston Matthews opened the scoring with his 18^th goal of the season at 14:46 of the first period. Nine of Matthews’ 18 goals this season have been the first goal of the game. Matthews also picked up the secondary assist on Nazem Kadri’s overtime-winning goal. Matthews has seven multi-point games this season.

Tyler Bozak scored the second goal of the game for the Maple Leafs at 9:26 of the second period with his seventh goal of the season. Bozak leads active Maple Leafs in scoring vs. Tampa Bay with 19 points (7 goals, 12 assists) in 25 career games vs. the Lightning.

Zach Hyman registered the primary assists on Matthews’ first period goal. Hyman has registered an assist in three consecutive games and has an assist in four of his last five games.

James van Riemsdyk picked up the primary assist on Bozak’s second period goal. He has three points (1-2-3) in his last four games.

Nikita Zaitsev earned the secondary assist on Bozak’s second period goal. Zaitsev has three assists in his last four games.

William Nylander earned his 16^th assist of the season on Kadri’s overtime goal. Nylander has points (2-2-4) in four consecutive games.

SHOTS FIRED

The Maple Leafs outshot the Lightning by a 35-27 margin in all situations and 26-18 at 5-on-5.

The teams were tied in shot attempts at 63-63 in all situations and 43-43 at 5-on-5.

Nazem Kadri led the Maple Leafs with six shots on goal.

Nazem Kadri also registered a team-high 12 shot attempts.

ROAD SCHOLARS

The Maple Leafs are 7-6-5 on the road this season and 2-5-1 in the second leg of back-to-backs.

Toronto’s all-time record is 51-28-2-6 in 87 games against the Lightning and 24-15-1-3 in 43 games played in Tampa Bay.

Toronto is 10-6-2 against the Eastern Conference this season and 7-3-1 against the Atlantic Division.

The Maple Leafs return to action on Jan. 1 against the Detroit Red Wings in the 2017 NHL Centennial Classic™.

MAPLE LEAFS LEADERS

OF NOTE…

At 3:30 of the third period of tonight’s game, video review confirmed that the puck did not cross Toronto’s goal line. No goal Tampa Bay.

The Maple Leafs have successfully killed off 19 consecutive penalties over their last four games.

The Maple Leafs have scored at least one goal in 12 of their last 14 regulation periods.

Toronto has outscored opponents 6-0 in the first period of their last five games.

The Maple Leafs have scored 37 first period goals this season, which is the most in the NHL.

The Maple Leafs have not allowed a first period goal in five consecutive games and have surrendered just one first period goal in their last eight contests.

Toronto has scored the first goal in their last five games and in seven of their last eight games. The Maple Leafs are 14-4-5 when scoring first this season.

The Maple Leafs are now 11-1-4 when leading after one period and 2-1-1 when tied after two periods.

Toronto has a 5-8-5 record when outshooting their opponents

Maple Leafs rookies combined for five points (1 goals, 4 assists) in tonight’s game. Toronto’s rookies had combined for 122 points (47 goals, 75 assists) in the Maple Leafs’ previous 34 games.

UPCOMING GAMES:

Sunday, Jan. 1 vs. Detroit Red Wings, 3:00 p.m. (Sportsnet, FAN 590)*

Tuesday, Jan. 3 at Washington Capitals, 7:00 p.m. (TSN 4, TSN 1050)

Friday, Jan. 6 at New Jersey Devils, 7:30 p.m. (Sportsnet Ontario, FAN 590)

Saturday, Jan. 7 vs. Montreal Canadiens, 7:00 p.m. (Hockey Night in Canada, FAN 590)

Friday, Jan. 13 at New York Rangers, 7:00 p.m. (TSN 4, TSN 1050)

*2017 NHL Centennial Classic™

POSTGAME QUOTES:

HEAD COACH MIKE BABCOCK

On tonight’s win as a confidence boost:

For sure. They played, we played, the ice was bad and so the game might not have been as smooth as you’d like but, in saying that, you found a way to win. [Bibeau] got his first NHL win, which was really positive for him. I thought our penalty kill was outstanding, I didn’t think our power play was good at all. We got pressured and didn’t execute on that, but then we end up winning on the power play. A big win for our guys, back-to-back, and suddenly we’ve won four in a row. It gives you confidence. Good day off tomorrow.

On getting a win from the backup goaltender:

We had got one point out of a backup until tonight so, you know, if you look at it there’s 20 games he’s got to play and you’ve got to get some points. That being said, good job. He’s a kid, he was a bit deep at times and things like that, but he did a good job.

On Matthews scoring the first goal for the ninth time this season:

I think he’s a competitive guy and his linemates are ultra-competitive, they really skate. So, they’ve had a lot of success just working hard and he’s got an incredible shot. They get lots of opportunity each and every night, it doesn’t matter who they play. We like that to them it doesn’t matter if it’s the best line or whatever it is. It’s positive for us. He’s getting better and better and it helps our team.

ANTOINE BIBEAU (25 SAVES, FIRST CAREER NHL WIN)

On his performance:

I felt pretty good. The first period I was more shaky maybe than my first game. The puck was bouncing everywhere and it was a little more up and down, but I felt comfortable the whole game. It was good.

On being tested early in the game:

It always helps. You always want to get a couple of chances early on just to get into the game. I felt great and the team played so good in front of me.

On taking a hit in the net in overtime:

I’ll take that collision every single day if we get a power play and score the game-winning goal. I didn’t feel anything. It was a great way to score on the power play at the end.

On if he got the puck from the win:

Yeah, Freddy kept it for me.

On where he’ll keep the puck:

Probably just at my parents’ house. My parents are going to be pretty excited about that so I’ll give it to them.

On getting his first win on the same trip Gauthier scored his first goal:

It’s pretty special. We’re roommates for the past two years so it’s pretty special to be up here together and both getting our first in the NHL.

NAZEM KADRI (GAME-WINNING GOAL, 12 SHOT ATTEMPTS)

On scoring the game winner:

It felt pretty good. I think we were pretty resilient all game. We got off to a good start, gave up a couple of goals towards the end there but, like I said before, we’re learning how to win these types of games and that’s what good teams do.

On puck possession in overtime leading to success:

Everything just magnifies a little more – possession, faceoffs – you need the puck in order to score because it’s such a time possession period. We were able to get a power play, 4-on-3, did a great job of entering the zone and setting it up. Willy [Nylander] made a great pass to me and I was able to put it in.

On tonight’s special teams play:

Our power play struggled tonight but our penalty kill definitely kept us in the game. It’s not every night we’re going to have both units going. At the end of the day I think our power play took a little bit of momentum away from us at times, but that just shows the character of this team, being able to stay with it, not getting frustrated and coming out on top.

AUSTON MATTHEWS (1 GOAL, 1 ASSIST)

On scoring the first goal of the game nine times this season:

I guess that’s something where they’ve been falling my way. We want to continue to roll, we’ve been playing well lately. In the second period we got away from our game a little bit and they were able to get a couple in the back of our net, but all in all we stuck with it. I don’t think there was any doubts in our mind that we were going to lose this game. We stuck with it. It took an extra five minutes but we were able to get it done.

On what led to his goal:

It’s those 50-50 battles. When you’ve got a guy like Zach Hyman there you’re going to win quite a bit of those. He did a great job off the draw to get that puck and turn it into a 50-50 battle. It popped up to me, it looked like there was a little bit of a screen there and we were able to scoop one by.