Alexander Kerfoot scored on the power play after 4:14 of overtime as the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-4 on Monday night.
“That’s what you dream of — scoring overtime goals in the playoffs,” Kerfoot said. You just want to help the team any way you can. There was a lot of confidence in this room, even after the first two periods. We started giving them a hard time. »
The Maple Leafs were down 4-1 in the third period, but rallied to take a 3-1 series lead.
Kerfoot deflected defenseman Mark Giordano’s point shot, scoring his first goal of the series to put the Maple Leafs close to a second-round playoff victory. The team has not reached the second round since 2004.
“A guy who works as hard as him, and who is as good for the leadership and the spirit of our team, is the kind of guy who is generally rewarded and who should be, rejoiced Sheldon Keefe , coach of the Leafs. I’m glad he did it. »
Auston Matthews, with two goals, Morgan Rielly and Noel Acciari also scored in the win. Ilya Samsonov blocked 27 shots.
William Nylander had three assists, while Mitch Marner and Ryan O’Reilly had two.
Alex Killorn had two goals for the Lightning, while Sergachev had one goal and one assist. Steven Stamkos scored his side’s other goal. Nikita Kucherov and Victor Hedman both finished the game with two assists. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 32 shots.
“Strange match, [mais] our sport is like that,” added Keefe. It is certain that the sensations are different and that things tend to go your way when this is the case. But you don’t have to get carried away. We have a difficult task ahead to complete the series. »