WATCH: John Tavares celebrates 1st career playoff hat-trick ANNIHILATING Bolts in process, NHL Twitter reacts
John Tavares riled up the crowd at Amalie Arena as the Leafs came out victorious against the Lightning in Game 2 of the playoff series.
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Nothing could’ve been more perfect than Toronto Maple Leafs completely burying Tampa Bay Lightning in a 7-2 record after their annihilation in Game 1 in a 7-3 setback by the Bolts. This was the perfect example of a topsy-turvy situation, and the Leafs’ fans couldn’t have been any happier.
Following their disastrous loss at Scotiabank Arena in Game 1, many viewed Leafs would continue their sinking dive. The recent Game 2 turned those views to be wrong, as Leafs’ captain John Tavares annihilated the Bolts in an embarrassing 7-2 record.
Not only did the Leafs rise up in Game 2, but Tavares also celebrated a personal achievement. He scored his first career playoff hat trick becoming the first Leafs’ player to do so since 2003 feat by Alexander Mogilny. With the Leafs’ recent win, they tied the series 1-1 and both teams will move up to Games 3 and 4 at Amalie Arena, Florida.
Leafs destroy the Lightning in Game 2 in 7-2 record
With just 20 minutes in the game, the Leafs took the lead to 3-0 as fans in Scotiabank Arena absolutely riled up the players. Fans have been upset with their disastrous Game 1 results which handed the Leafs a 7-3 loss. Nothing could have tasted better than the team turning the tides in Game 2.
Not only John Tavares, but other players like Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and Zach Anton-Reese also took a piece of Bolts’ by scoring and assisting in their team’s victory. Leafs’ defenceman Morgan Rielly tied a franchise record with 4 assists, while Auston Mattews assisted in 2.
Leafs’ goalie Ilya Samsonov also pulled up the game following Tuesday’s loss, as he made 19 strong saves for the team. During Game 1, the fans booed the Leafs off the ice, but their comeback victory once again secured their places in the fan’s hearts.
Carlo Colaiacovo in First Up stated that Leafs’ coach Sheldon Keefe should stop overcoaching the players ahead of Game 2, “Keefe needs to stop focusing so much on matchups, trust your players…if they don’t get the job done it’s on them, not you.”
Marner noted, “I did wait to just to see in case it went behind me or something like that, and didn’t want to give up an odd man rush right like that”. “Just trusting myself to make a play.” Samsonov was also less nervous than the series opener, “Less nervous today. Such a nice game, yeah.”
Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said of Victor Hedman, “This game had nothing to do with Victor Hedman. Did we play hard enough to win? Probably not,” according to TheStar. In Game 2, the Leafs’ core pulled up and showed off their game, delivering the 7-2 result.
With Games 3 and 4 remaining, the tides could turn at any point as fans expect excitement in the best of seven series. The high adrenaline-rushed game saw many glove-dropping moments, especially in 3rd period. Tanner Jeannot of the Bolts and Luke Schenn of Leafs were the first to drop gloves.
Their heavy tilt was followed by Corey Perry and Justin Holl starting a brawl with seven minutes remaining prior to the final buzzer. The high-voltage action game will further continue into Game 3 of the Stanley Cup playoff series.
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Kaushani Chatterjee
(2147 Articles Published)