Campbell stopped 32 of 34 shots he faced to help his team take a 2-1 series lead. He was particularly hot in the last eight minutes of the game, closing the door on Nick Paul, Steven Stamkos and Brandon Hagel, among others.
His prowess also allowed the Torontonians to end the Lightning’s six-game winning streak at Tampa in the playoffs.
He made some big saves in the game, but we’re in the playoffs and that one [au détriment de Stamkos]it was a save that saved us
admitted coach Sheldon Keefe.
Game 3 highlights.
Photo: Getty Images/Mike Ehrmann
The Maple Leafs landed in Florida with insurance. Helped by a penalty to Patrick Maroon, they took the lead in the first five minutes of the confrontation thanks to a power play. Posted at the mouth of the net, Morgan Rielly jumped on a throwback from Andrei Vasilevskiy to open the scoring.
Ilya Lyubushkin gave the Lightning a chance to retaliate moments later with a high-sticking penalty, but Florida failed to take advantage.
A question of turning the iron in the wound, Lyubushkin, on his way out of the penalty box, joined Pierre Engvall and Colin Blackwell, of the Leafs, in a three-on-one climb. The Russian was patient in front of the Lightning net. He waited for a pass line to open up to set up Blackwell’s first career playoff goal.
We’ve seen it a few times. We knew he was capable of making good plays even if it’s not the main aspect of his game. I imagine that when he needs to make a big play, he is capable of it. It was a great pass. It took us all a bit by surprise. It was an amazing game
summarized Auston Matthews after the meeting.
David Kämpf, who went 3-0 for Toronto in Game 1 of the series, repeated it in the second period. The 27-year-old Czech beat Vasilevskiy with a good wrist shot into the lower part of the net like he did the other night.
The Maple Leafs seemed to take their foot off the gas afterwards. In the neutral zone, Alex Kerfoot hesitated to clear the puck shorthanded. The Lightning took the opportunity to settle immediately in Toronto territory, then Ross Colton managed to beat Campbell with a perfect slapshot into the top corner.
Tampa continued to pressure the Torontonians afterward. Colton, again, was stopped by the Maple Leafs goaltender on another occasion, then also missed a gaping goal before the second period was over.
The two-time defending Stanley Cup champions returned from the locker room with a knife between their teeth in the third period. Ondrej Palat eventually managed to close the gap to one goal, 3-2, with a wrist shot from the face-off circles.
The Lightning knocked on the door with insistence afterwards, but Campbell and defensive play specialists such as Kämpf and Ilya Mikheyev were brilliant. The latter also scored two goals while Tampa withdrew its goalkeeper in favor of a sixth skater late in the game to seal the outcome of the game.
We bent, but we didn’t break
summed up head coach Sheldon Keefe. I think it’s a big step for us. To do that on the road against this team… We knew they were going to try to come back, but we want to be that team that wins these kinds of games.
I think taking an early lead in the game helped us a lot. [Campbell] made some amazing saves and I think all the players took their game to the next level when it was needed. They made the necessary plays and they caught their breath well to manage the panic
assessed Matthews.
” A victory is a victory. It took us 60 minutes [pour y arriver]but everyone offered a nice offer in my opinion. »
Yes, it’s an important victory, but if we learned anything from the second game, it’s to quickly move on and be ready for the next game.
underlined for his part Campbell.
Maple Leafs and Lightning meet Sunday night for Game 4 of their series in Tampa.
The Torontonians will then be able to draw inspiration from their most recent victory to motivate themselves, but also from history. The Maple Leafs are 13-1 when they lead 2-1 in a 4-of-7 series where they have home ice advantage.
Reference-ici.radio-canada.ca