Toronto Maple Leafs Defeat Tampa Bay Lightning 5-2
TORONTO — William Nylander shone with two goals and an assist as the Toronto Maple Leafs secured a 5-2 victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday night.
In addition to Nylander’s contributions, Auston Matthews, Max Pacioretty, and Matthew Knies found the back of the net for Toronto, while goaltender Anthony Stolarz made 32 saves. Mitch Marner also played a crucial role, providing two assists during the game.
The Lightning’s Nick Paul and Brayden Point managed to score, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Maple Leafs. Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy faced four goals on just 14 shots before being replaced midway through the second period. Jonas Johansson came in as relief, making 14 saves.
Anthony STAR-larz pic.twitter.com/LoCwlV9Npo
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) October 22, 2024
Nylander opened the scoring early in the first period and extended Toronto’s lead to 3-1 midway through the second. Pacioretty then increased the gap to 4-1 with a long-range shot, ending Vasilevskiy’s night, before Knies scored another to push the advantage to four goals by the end of the second period.
A key moment in the game occurred when the Lightning had a 5-on-3 power play for two minutes but failed to capitalize, with Stolarz making crucial saves to maintain the lead.
In a notable statistic, Toronto has now scored at least five goals in a game for the 22nd time dating back to last season, trailing only the Colorado Avalanche, Detroit Red Wings, Lightning, and Dallas Stars in that timeframe.
Next up, the Maple Leafs will visit the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday.
