TORONTO – SPORTS – The Toronto Maple Leafs thrilled a home-town crowd last night coming from behind to win 4-3 over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Leafs fell behind but came back in the third to take the lead. Auston Matthews broke a third-period tie, and the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday.
The Maple Leafs took a 3-2 series lead and pushed the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions to the brink of elimination.
Game 6 in the best-of-7 series will be in Tampa Bay on Thursday.
“That felt good,” Matthews said. “Just the crowd, the energy, there’s nothing like a playoff atmosphere especially here in Toronto. It was pretty special. It was a big win for us but there’s still some work to be done. It’s a good night just to battle back down two goals, never losing hope and just competing but like I said, the job is not done.”
Mitchell Marner shot on a 2-on-1 leading to a rebound in the slot that Matthews put past goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy for the lead at 13:54 of the third for the Maple Leafs, who trailed 2-0 after the first period.
