Toronto Maple Leafs win opening game of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs

Toronto Maple Leafs (Wikimedia Commons)

The Toronto Maple Leafs have won their opening game of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and did so in convincing fashion. On Monday night at the Scotiabank Arena, the Maple Leafs clobbered the Tampa Bay Lightning, the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions, 5-0 in game one of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.

Jack Campbell made 24 saves for his second career National Hockey League postseason shutout. He previously blanked the Montreal Canadiens 4-0 in game four of the North Division semifinals, a series the Maple Leafs would end up losing four games to three.

Offensively for Toronto on Monday, the Maple Leafs were led by Mitch Marner of Markham, Ontario, and Auston Matthews, who had three points each. Marner had one goal and two assists, while Matthews had two goals and one assist. Morgan Rielly of Vancouver, British Columbia, and Ondrej Kase also had multi-point games as they had two assists each. The other Maple Leafs goal scorers were Jake Muzzin of Woodstock, Ontario, and David Kampf. Muzzin had the game-winning goal at 18:19 of the first period, while Kampf’s goal was shorthanded.

It was a huge week for Matthews. He not only led the Maple Leafs in goal scoring on Monday, but also won the Rocket Richard Trophy this season after leading the NHL with 60 goals.

Another key moment in game one was the fact the Lightning could not score a goal on a five-minute power play in the first period when Kyle Clifford was given a five-minute major for boarding. The Maple Leafs got all of the momentum after that.

 

 

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