Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Ian Cole, left, and Toronto Maple Leafs center John Tavares push up close in game three of the first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay, on Apr. 22.Kim Klement/USA TODAY Sports via Reuters
The first three games of the playoff series between the Maple Leafs and the Lightning are in the books and the drama and intrigue has just begun. There are games within those games and both teams are engaged in them.
After Toronto escaped with a 4-3 overtime victory at Amalie Arena on Saturday, head coach Sheldon Keefe complimented Tampa Bay for its gamesmanship. Sort of. Well, now that you mention it, it could have also been interpreted as a slag.
With a little more than five minutes gone in the third period and the Maple Leafs down 3-2, Toronto’s Morgan Rielly chased Brayden Point into a corner behind the visitors’ net. Rielly checked the Lightning’s 50-plus goal-scoring centre, who went shoulder-first hard into the boards.
Nikita Kucherov immediately jumped on Rielly in retaliation and both received roughing penalties. Then a pair of fights ensued between Tampa Bay star Steven Stamkos and Auston Matthews and Kucherov and Ryan O’Reilly.
And suddenly what looked to be a Maple Leafs power play was wiped out.
Although everything happened quickly, Keefe believes it was purposeful.
“They know we’re basically already going on the power play because of the Kucherov situation, so it’s a free-for-all,” he said. “They can do whatever they want, and they just know the way the games get called and they’re not going to get another penalty.
“It’s a classic example of a veteran team, a championship team, manipulating the officials and taking advantage of the situation. It was a brilliant play by the Lightning there.”
On Sunday, Jon Cooper, the Tampa Bay coach, looked perplexed. Okay, maybe not. Perhaps even a bit amused.
“Manipulating the referees?” Cooper said. “I’m not sure what that means.”
The teams play again on Monday in Tampa with Toronto holding a 2-1 series lead. The best-of-seven set shifts back to Scotiabank Arena on Thursday.
O’Reilly scored with one minute left in regulation time and Rielly got the winner with 45 seconds to go in the first 20-minute overtime period. That reinstates the home-ice advantage that the Maple Leafs enjoyed at the start of the first round of these Stanley Cup playoffs.
Ilya Samsonov had a tremendous night in Toronto’s net in Game 3, stopping 36 of 39 shots. He has now won two postseason games in a row after going 1-6 in his only previous playoff experience with Washington.
In the past two games he has outplayed the Lightning’s great backstop, Andrei Vasilevskiy, who is plumbing the depths for him with an .853 save percentage through three outings. Samsonov’s save ratio is slightly better at .878.
Each was nicked up a bit in lopsided encounters in Games 1 and 2.
It would have been nice to hear from Samsonov after Saturday’s thrilling victory but he was not made available. Nor did that happen on Sunday when the team met for a meeting and a half-dozen players skated at a suburban arena.
Samsonov was there but did not participate. He entertained himself by trying to toss pucks from the bench into an open net.
For his part, Vasilevskiy has been made scarce as well. It is as though the teams are conducting a cold war with their Russian goaltenders.
When asked why Samsonov has not appeared at any media gatherings, Keefe offered a rapid rebuke.
“Have you talked to Vasilevskiy at all this series?” he asked. He already knew the answer.
While Cooper, an old hand at this, is a journalist whisperer who speaks softly and spins long answers, Keefe is blunter and more direct.
Toronto was badly outplayed on Saturday but found a way to win. There were a lot of terrific individual performances. Noel Acciari scored a goal and was credited with nine hits. Luke Schenn, Zach Aston-Reese and Jake McCabe had six hits each. T.J. Brodie blocked six shots. Mitch Marner had two assists and now leads the NHL in postseason scoring with eight points. Matthews got his first goal to go along with four assists.
The fight was the first of Matthews’s career at any level. He was basically forced into it by Stamkos and did okay.
“It all happened kind of quick,” Matthews said. “I understand that sometimes there is a place for that. You have to stick up for yourself.”
John Tavares, the Maple Leafs captain, was not surprised Game 3 turned into a slugfest.
“It’s playoff hockey,” he said. “Two good teams battling hard. We did a hell of a job sticking with it. I don’t think it was our best game but we found a way. It puts us in a good spot but you saw how difficult it was.”
Tavares was a bit taken aback by the melee that followed Rielly’s check on Point. Rielly was originally given a five-minute boarding penalty but, after a video review, it was reversed.
“That was interesting,” Tavares said. “I didn’t think it was a penalty on Morgan and all of a sudden a bunch of stuff is going on, and then three or four of our guys who are typically on our power play aren’t because they got dragged into the box.”
The games within the games have begun.