If the Leafs thought the opening game of their Stanley Cup playoff series was going to be easy, they were sadly mistaken.
By any measure, scoring three times on Andrei Vasilevskiy is good news, but Samsonov’s night was not. Sure, the team was terrible in front of him, but he allowed six goals on 29 shots. One goal went in with four seconds left in the first. One went in with one second left in the second. The knock on him in Washington was the playoffs, where he has one career win. His rebound control was suspect and he seemed unsure of himself in net.
Coincidence or not, fans chanted “refs suck” when the officials took to the ice in warm-ups. And fans were not happy that the Leafs got the only two penalties of the first period, and were trailing 3-0 in part thanks to Kucherov’s power-play goal with four seconds left in that period. The worst was Bunting having his Nazem Kadri moment, ejected for an illegal hit to the head of Cernak. Corey Perry scored early during the five-minute major, a goal the Leafs challenged and lost. It was the first video review challenge the Leafs lost all season. That put them two men down. They killed the bench minor, but Point scored with a second to go in the period as the Leafs left the ice to boos. It was Point’s second power-play goal.
Lightning coach Jon Cooper was quick to tell reporters that the malaise with which Tampa finished their season — they were under .500 since the trade deadline — would not be a factor. Like the Leafs, they knew who their opponents would be a long time ago. Unlike the Leafs, they have Stanley Cup experience to draw from at this time of year.
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