The Tampa Bay Lightning got back to their winning ways on Saturday, handing an Atlantic Division foe in the Toronto Maple Leafs a 5-2 loss on the road.
Toronto opened the scoring off the rush 4:50 into the game before the Lightning rattled off five straight goals, including one from Corey Perry in the forward’s return to the lineup after being acquired in a trade on Friday.
Toronto got a goal late for the 5-2 final.
Nikita Kucherov led Tampa Bay with four assists to reach 100 points on the season, while Jake Guentzel joined Brayden Point, Brandon Hagel and Anthony Cirelli with two-point nights. Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy made 27 saves in the victory, helping Tampa Bay improve to 39-18-4.
The Bolts now head to Buffalo on Sunday, when they’ll face the Buffalo Sabres (38-19-6) for the Atlantic Division lead.
Scoring summary
First period
TOR 1, TBL 0
4:50 Matias Maccelli (13) - William Nylander
A turnover sent the Maple Leafs on a rush early in the game, and William Nylander found Matias Maccelli for a score at the hashmarks.
TOR 1, TBL 1
5:36 Ryan McDonagh (5) - Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point
Tampa Bay needed only 46 seconds to tie the game, their goal coming when a Ryan McDonagh shot at the left faceoff dot went in off a Maple Leafs defender in front of the net.
TBL 2, TOR 1
12:30 Jake Guentzel (27) - Point, Kucherov
Jake Guentzel buried a rebound chance on his backhand to give Tampa Bay their first lead of the night.
TBL 3, TOR 1
13:48 Corey Perry (12) - Brandon Hagel, Anthony Cirelli
Forward Corey Perry didn’t wait long to score in his return to the Lightning lineup, burying a shot in the left circle after kicking the puck to his stick.
TBL 4, TOR 1
15:06 Oliver Bjorkstrand (11) - Kucherov, Guentzel - PP
Tampa Bay kept their strong start rolling with a one-timer by Oliver Bjorkstrand on the left side of a power-play setup.
Shots on goal: TBL 12, TOR 11
Second period
None.
Shots on goal: TOR 8, TBL 7
Third period
TBL 5, TOR 1
15:41 Hagel (29) - Cirelli, Kucherov - EN
Tampa Bay got an empty-net goal for Brandon Hagel.
TBL 5, TOR 2
19:29 Nicholas Robertson (13) - Unasssited
A wrap-around goal in the closing minute ended the scoring.
Total shots: TBL 33, TOR 29
