The overwhelming success of that major kill for Toronto gave the home team a supercharged momentum boost, one they used to take control of the game. Not only did the Leafs thoroughly outplay the Lightning during the five-minute kill, they thoroughly outplayed the Lightning for the rest of the night as well.
Still, the early minutes weren't bad ones for the Lightning. They owned the majority of the possession as the Maple Leafs committed multiple icing infractions. But the five-minute major changed all of that. The Leafs found their rhythm and the Lightning were thrown off-kilter.
From that point onward, this was a lopsided matchup. The Leafs played with high urgency. They played fast. They checked. With terrific defensive structure, they took away the Lightning's time and space and limited scoring chances. They blocked 25 shots. They were crisp with their puck play and avoided turnovers. On the Lightning's side, they didn't match Toronto's urgency level or pace of play. They lost puck battles. They committed turnovers. They were loose defensively. While they did amass 61 shot attempts, too often they failed to get pucks and traffic to the Toronto net.
The Lightning power play, which had gone 14-29 over the final eight games of the regular season, went 0-5. The fifth and final chance, which came just past the halfway point of the second period, was the best of the bunch. The Lightning posted four shots on goal during that man advantage. That was the same PP in which Steven Stamkos misfired on what would have been a goal into an open side of the Toronto net.
But the other four power plays created more momentum for the Leafs than they did for the Lightning. The Maple Leafs, when they cleared pucks down the ice, were effective at preventing the Lightning from cleanly re-entering the offensive zone. During the five-minute major kill, the Leafs not only disputed Lightning entries at the Toronto blue line, they then countered quickly up ice to create those aforementioned shorthanded odd-man rushes.
David Kampf's second period shorthanded goal came about a bit differently. Victor Hedman attempted to block Mitch Marner's clearing attempt and hold the puck in the offensive zone. Instead, it deflected off Hedman and went to the neutral zone, where Kampf accelerated past Hedman and scored on the ensuing breakaway.
Jack Campbell registered a 24-save shutout. He looked solid and steady in net. He made initial saves and didn't allow many rebounds. But thanks to his teammates and their outstanding defensive play in front of him, Campbell didn't have to deal with many Grade-A looks.
Game One was a one-sided blowout. Simply put, the Lightning will need to play a whole lot better on Wednesday in Game Two.
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game (as selected by Phil Esposito):
1. Auston Matthews - Maple Leafs. Two goals and assist.
2. Mitch Marner - Maple Leafs. Goal and two assists.
3. Jack Campbell - Maple Leafs. 24-save shutout.
