Stanley Cup Playoffs Day 8: Leafs stage miraculous comeback to take 3–1 series lead

Mike Gould
Mike Gould
Stanley Cup Playoffs Day 8: Leafs stage miraculous comeback to take 3–1 series lead
Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

It was, in fact, 4–1.

We’re pretty much going to leave our intro at that.

Kerfoot plays OT hero as Leafs steal 5–4 win in Tampa

It’s been nearly 10 years since the Toronto Maple Leafs blew a 4–1 lead to lose 5–4 in overtime in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal playoff series against the Boston Bruins.

After seizing that victory from the jaws of defeat, the Bruins ended up making it all the way to the 2013 Stanley Cup Final. Now, for this year’s Maple Leafs, simply making it out of the first round might amount to their own kind of championship … but, make no mistake, they’ve certainly earned the right to have even greater aspirations.

The Maple Leafs are now one win away from advancing to the second round for the first time since 2004. Alexander Kerfoot capped off an improbable comeback in overtime on Monday night as Toronto battled back from a 4–1 third-period deficit to steal a 5–4 win in Tampa’s Amalie Arena.

The Leafs exited the second intermission trailing by three. It looked like the midway mark of the third period would come and go with the Lightning still leading 4–1, but Auston Matthews scored with 10:16 left in regulation to cut the Leafs’ deficit to two.

Less than three minutes later, Matthews struck again — on the power play, this time — to make it 4–3. Finally, with only 3:56 remaining in the third, a black-eyed Morgan Rielly beat Andrei Vasilevskiy from distance to make it a brand-new hockey game.

Toronto controlled the shots 6–1 in overtime. It took four minutes and 14 seconds for Kerfoot to deflect a long-range shot from Mark Giordano past Vasilevskiy to send Leafs Nation into a frenzy. You can bet Scotiabank Arena will be packed for Game 5 on Thursday.

Devils reclaim home-ice advantage with 3–1 victory on Broadway

Jack Hughes might just be a superstar, you guys.

The two best words to describe this breakaway tally by the New Jersey Devils’ top young center are “ice” and “cold.” Hughes gave the Devils a 1–0 lead over the New York Rangers only 2:50 into the first period of Monday’s Game 4 at Madison Square Garden.

Although Vincent Trocheck finally got the Rangers on the board to tie the game at one at the 1:42 mark of the final frame, it took less than seven minutes after that for Devils defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler (who assisted on Hughes’ goal) to restore his team’s one-goal lead.

From there, two-time Stanley Cup champ Ondrej Palat sealed the deal into an empty net in the final minute of play to ensure his team would win 3–1 and even the series at two games apiece — with Game 5 slated for Thursday at Prudential Center in Newark.

By the way, Devils goaltender Akira Schmid has now stopped 57 of 59 shots in the first two playoff starts of his NHL career. He won’t turn 23 until May!

Jets’ rally attempt falls short as Vegas pushes series to the brink

Trade deadline acquisition Ivan Barbashev scored the winning goal in the second period as the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Winnipeg Jets by a 4–2 score at Canada Life Centre on Monday.

It’s starting to look like this series might end up being a carbon copy of the 2018 Western Conference Final, which also saw the Jets win the first game before losing the next four. It’s a little early to predict the Jets will drop Thursday’s Game 5 in Vegas, but their recent play hasn’t exactly inspired much confidence.

The Jets really gave it a go in the third period on Monday, with Pierre-Luc Dubois scoring just 2:57 into the final frame to cut the Golden Knights’ lead to 3–2. But Vegas goaltender (and former Jet) Laurent Brossoit stood tall the rest of the way, allowing Brett Howden to score his second goal of the game into an empty net in the final minute of regulation.

It remains to be seen whether the Golden Knights will come to regret giving up top prospect Zach Dean for a rental in Barbashev, but this playoff GWG certainly helps. It was Barbashev’s first playoff goal of any kind since the St. Louis Blues’ 2019 Stanley Cup run.

Eberle ends back-and-forth thriller to draw Kraken even with Avs

Jordan Eberle scored the first playoff overtime goal in Seattle Kraken franchise history to seal a 3–2 win in Game 4 of their Western Conference quarterfinal playoff series against the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche.

Eberle tallied 20 goals in the regular season, but absolutely none of them were bigger than the power-play marker he scored exactly three minutes into the extra frame at Climate Pledge Arena on Monday. The Kraken and Avalanche are now tied at two games apiece with Game 5 of their series coming right up on Wednesday.

Seattle finished 30th in the entire National Hockey League one season ago, earning the right to select Shane Wright with the No. 4 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft as a result. Who’s to say one of the bottom teams in the league in the 2022–23 regular season won’t enjoy a similar turnaround next year?

Will Borgen and Daniel Sprong also scored for the Kraken to give them a 2–0 lead in the first period. But Mikko Rantanen responded with a pair of his own in the middle frame to tie the game at two, setting the stage for Eberle to play the sudden-death hero.

The 32-year-old winger more than lived up to the challenge. Eberle’s 14th career Stanley Cup Playoff goal was his first as a member of the Kraken.

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