Toronto Maple Leafs finally beat Tampa Bay 2-1

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This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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THE SCORESHEET

William Nylander put the Maple Leafs on the board with a power play goal at 12:42 of the first period. Nylander has goals (2) in two consecutive games. In three games against the Lightning this season, he has registered two goals and two assists. He has recorded nine goals and eight assists in 19 games played since the All-Star Break.

Auston Matthews scored the second Toronto goal of the night on the power play at 3:38 of the third period. Matthews has 32 goals and 17 assists in 34 games on home ice this season. He has 23 points (14 goals, 9 assists) in 22 games against Atlantic Division opposition.

John Tavares registered the primary assist on Nylander’s first period goal and later had the secondary assist on Matthews’ third period goal. Tonight’s game is his sixth multi-assist and 18th multi-point game of 2019-20. He has registered 29 points (10 goals, 19 assists) in 30 games on home ice this season. In three games against Tampa Bay this season, he has registered three goals and two assists.

Mitch Marner collected the secondary assist on Nylander’s first period goal and later had the primary assist on Matthews’ third period goal. Tonight’s game is Marner’s 13th multi-assist and 17th multi-point game of the season. He has 20 points (4-16-20) in 18 games against Atlantic Division opponents this season. In 32 games on home ice in 2019-20, he has recorded 40 points (4-36-40) in 32 games on home ice. Tonight’s game was Marner’s 300th NHL game.

Frederik Andersen stopped 32 of the 33 shots he faced to earn his 29th win of the season.

 

SHOTS ON GOAL (5-on-5 in brackets)

 

 

1st

2nd

3rd

OT

TOTAL

TAMPA BAY

6 (5)

15 (7)

12 (10)

33 (22)

TORONTO

17 (13)

5 (4)

14 (11)

36 (28)

 

 

 

 

 

 

SHOT ATTEMPTS (5-on-5 in brackets)

 

1st

2nd

3rd

OT

TOTAL

TAMPA BAY

15 (14)

21 (9)

27 (21)

63 (44)

TORONTO

29 (23)

16 (10)

21 (17)

66 (50)

 

NO PLACE LIKE HOME

 

Record at Home

18-9-7 (34 Games)

All-Time Record vs. Tampa Bay 

56-35-2-7 (100 Games)

All-Time Record vs. Tampa Bay at Home

29-18-1-3 (51 Games)

Record vs. Eastern Conference

20-15-6 (41 Games)

Record vs. Atlantic Division

12-8-2 (22 Games)

Attendance

19,124

 

MAPLE LEAFS LEADERS

Shots

7 (Matthews)

Shot Attempts

8 (Matthews)

Faceoff Wins

12 (Matthews)

Faceoff Win Percentage

100% (Gauthier – 1 won, 0 lost)

Hits

3 (Holl)

Blocked Shots

3 (Ceci, Dermott)

Takeaways

3 (Spezza)

TOI

25:06 (Dermott)

Power Play TOI

5:13 (Nylander)

Shorthanded TOI

6:42 (Dermott)

Shifts

27 (Ceci, Rielly)

5-on-5 Shot Attempt Percentage

68.4% (Malgin – 13 for, 6 against)

 

 

RECORD WHEN…

Scoring first

24-5-2

Lead after 1

17-3-1

Tied after 2

9-6-3

Score multiple power play goals

10-1-0

Do not allow a power play goal

22-9-5

Outshooting opponent

20-10-4

Tuesday

9-5-1

 

OF NOTE…

The Maple Leafs went 4-for-4 on the penalty kill and 2-for-5 on the power play tonight.

Pierre Engvall, Alex Kerfoot and Denis Malgin were the lone Toronto skaters to not start a 5-on-5 shift in the offensive zone.

Morgan Rielly was on the ice for a team-high 21 shot attempts at 5-on-5 tonight. Rielly finished the game with a 5-on-5 shot attempt percentage of 53.9 percent (21 for, 18 against).

Auston Matthews won 86 percent (6 won, 1 lost) of his offensive zone faceoffs.

UPCOMING GAMES:

Thursday, March 12, 7:00 p.m. vs. Nashville Predators (TSN4, TSN 1050)

Saturday, March 14, 7:00 p.m. at Boston Bruins (Sportsnet, FAN 590)

Tuesday, March 17, 7:00 p.m. vs. New Jersey Devils (TSN4, FAN 590)

Thursday, March 19, 7:00 p.m. vs. New York Islanders (Sportsnet Ontario, TSN 1050)

Saturday, March 21, 7:00 p.m. vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (Sportsnet, TSN 1050)

POSTGAME QUOTES:

HEAD COACH  SHELDON KEEFE

 

On the team having success putting the game away in the third period tonight:

I think it's a confidence thing. That's part of it. So yeah, I do. I don't think that's characteristic that a team has. I think it's something that comes and goes, kind of with your confidence as a team. We haven't really been going as a team, so we haven't had that. This is another really close hockey game that we've had to play here and, again, at 5-on-5 we were outscored today. That’s been a challenge for us. That’s something that obviously we’ve worked at, but when you’re going up against the best offensive team in the NHL, you’re going to give up a great deal. When we did, Freddie [Andersen] was outstanding, in the second period especially. There were a lot of very good things for us and we’ll take two very important points.

On Morgan Rielly’s play tonight:

I thought he was pretty good, all things considered. He hasn’t played and it’s a tough game – especially in that second period. It’s hard for our defence to get off the ice and they’re really coming. It looked like it was taking a toll on him physically, in terms of his conditioning. It’s one thing to train, as we all know and say, and practice in the gym and all that, but it is a whole different ballgame. Just his legs and the way he skates, all of a sudden, he jumps into a hole – whether it’s offensively or defensively he’ll cover for you – he has instincts along the offensive blueline, waits above for the defensive pucks. He plays the whole game.

On if anything over the last couple of days led to a strong start tonight:

We’ve talked a lot about our starts and consistency in our play. I thought we started really well. It was a combination of a really good start for us, but I don’t think it was a good start for Tampa. I thought we moved the puck extremely well. It was a game we just played with the puck on our stick a lot. That’s when we are frustrating. We just kept coming and had lots of chances, lots of time with the puck. It was a really good period for us in that sense, we didn’t have to defend very much at all. That was a real key for us was to try to keep the puck out of their hands and in their end.

AUSTON MATTHEWS (1 GOAL)

On having a few days between the California trip and tonight:

You have lots of time to reflect, it’s a five-hour flight so kick back and relax and nice to get a couple days off and try to get adjusted back to the time zone and time change and everything. Then have a good day of practice and just try to come out like we did tonight. The second period, I think, it got away from us a bit, lots of penalties but I think our first period is a good starting point for us and how we want to play. We’ve got to make sure we do that more consistently and throughout the game.

On Morgan Rielly’s leadership:

He’s extremely vocal and I think he’s a guy that everyone looks up to. I know for myself he’s one of my closest friends on the team and someone that helped me out, especially my first couple years. I spent a lot of time with him and I still do. He’s a great leader and a great teammate and really good person. To go along with his hockey abilities, he’s a guy we’re definitely happy to have back.

WILLIAM NYLANDER (1 GOAL)

On tonight’s win:

Well, obviously, the PK was great, and I think our power play got some big important goals today. We played solid through the first and third periods, so we want to clean up that second period.

On what was the key to the strong start tonight:

I think we had a couple days to feel fresh and we felt we were buzzing already in warmups.

On what worked well on the power play tonight:

I think we just kept it simple, tried to move it around and make easy plays and not force anything really. It was really good work.

MORGAN RIELLY (21:47 TOI)

On the important of consistency this time of year:

Yeah, we’ve talked about that before, we’ve talked about being more consistent and I think now more than ever, just given the standings, the time of year and remaining games, I think it’s an opportunity for us to start to play well and build some momentum. I think if you look back to this time last year our performances weren’t what we wanted them to be in time for playoffs and this year we’ve got a chance to fix that and change that. It’s important that we take that seriously and take the good things here tonight and talk about it tomorrow.

On the key to the strong first period:

Well, I think we moved the puck quick; we’re not holding onto it. For me, I think it was just D-zone execution and the importance of that. Going back, if we’re able to breakout, quick and create speed that way, it just seems to be smoother for us. It’s when you go back for pucks and you get beat back for pucks and you lose races, that’s when you tend to get hemmed in. I think that if we focus on that and that rhythm it creates more of a support system and we can move the puck forward with speed through the neutral zone.

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