Toronto — William Nylander had two goals and an assist as the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-2 on Monday night.
Auston Matthews, Max Pacioretty and Matthew Knies also scored for Toronto. Anthony Stolarz made 32 saves. Mitch Marner had two assists.
Nick Paul and Brayden Point responded for Tampa Bay. Andrei Vasilevsky allowed four goals on 14 shots before getting hooked midway through the second quarter. Jonas Johansson made 14 saves in relief. Victor Hedman had two assists.
Nylander opened the scoring in the top of the first and midway through the second, Toronto led 3-1.
Pacioretty extended the lead to 4-1 through Vasilevskiy’s night and Knies followed up with another strike from Johansson to take a four-goal advantage with 40 minutes to play.
The Leafs beat the Lightning in the first round of the 2023 playoffs for the Original Six franchise’s only series win in the NHL salary cap era.
Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov, who earned an assist, kept things in check by scoring an NHL-leading seven goals in four games.
Toronto’s 27th-ranked power play connected with a second chance when Matthews was quickest to grab a loose puck in the crease after Vasilevskiy failed to squeeze in Marner’s initial shot.
The Lightning went on a 5-on-3 power play to make it 4-1 in the second when Max Domi and Bobby McMann were penalized in the same sequence, but Stolarz held the fort.
Toronto has scored at least five goals in a game for the 22nd time since last season. During the same period, only the Colorado Avalanche (31), Detroit Red Wings (25), Lightning (24), and Dallas Stars (23) are in the five-goal race more.
The Lightning wrapped up a three-game road trip Tuesday in New Jersey. The Maple Leafs visit Columbus on Tuesday.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
