Maple Leafs pull off stunning Game 4 comeback, Alexander Kerfoot pots overtime winner

Alexander Kerfoot scored on the facility play at 4:14 of time beyond regulation after Toronto worn out a three-goal deficit within the third interval, and the Maple Leafs beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-4 Monday evening to take a commanding 3-1 sequence lead of their first-round playoff matchup.

Alex Killorn scored twice in serving to the Lightning construct a 4-1 lead that the Maple Leafs erased with three objectives — two by Auston Matthews — in a span of 6 minutes, 20 seconds. Morgan Rielly’s second purpose of the sequence tied it 4-all at 16:04 of the third interval.

It was the second time in three nights Toronto rallied late to power time beyond regulation. Ryan O’Reilly’s purpose with 60 seconds left in regulation saved the Maple Leafs alive in Sport 3, and O’Reilly received it at 19:45 of OT for a 2-1 series lead.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have fun a purpose in time beyond regulation by Alexander Kerfoot #15 to win Sport 4 of the First Spherical of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs towards the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Area on April 24, 2023, in Tampa, Florida. (Mike Ehrmann/Getty Photos)

Mikhail Sergachev and Steven Stamkos additionally scored for the Lightning. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 32 pictures and had a few huge saves within the time beyond regulation interval earlier than Kerfoot redirected Mark Giordano previous the goaltender for the win.

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Noel Acciari scored for the second straight sport for Toronto, deflecting Justin Holl’s shot previous Vasilevskiy early within the second interval to briefly get the Maple Leafs inside one purpose earlier than Tampa Bay pulled away with objectives by Stamkos and Killorn that made it 4-1.

DEVILS EVEN UP SERIES AGAINST RANGERS AFTER HARD-FOUGHT GAME 4 VICTORY

It was 2-0 after one interval, and Toronto was lucky the deficit wasn’t greater.

Maple Leafs goaltender Ilya Samsonov stopped Brandon Hagel’s penalty shot rather less than eight minutes into the sport, however the Lightning’s persistence paid off when Killorn — after which, Sergachev — scored their first objectives of the sequence off excellent feeds from Nikita Kucherov.

Steven Stamkos #91 of the Tampa Bay Lightning shoots within the second interval throughout  Sport 4 of the First Spherical of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs towards the Toronto Maple Leafs at Amalie Area on April 24, 2023, in Tampa, Florida. (Mike Ehrmann/Getty Photos)

In each instances, Samsonov was positioned to defend a potential shot from Kucherov when the Lightning star as an alternative delivered the puck to Killorn and Sergachev from the precise circle.

Killorn scored his first purpose on an influence play. His second got here from a shot from the left circle that beat Samsonov to the far put up for a three-goal lead.

Samsonov stopped 27 pictures.

Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs celebrates a purpose within the third interval throughout  Sport 4 of the First Spherical of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs towards the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Area on April 24, 2023, in Tampa, Florida. (Mike Ehrmann/Getty Photos)

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TOUGH POINT

Tampa Bay’s Brayden Level was within the lineup Monday evening after tumbling head-first into the boards whereas battling for a free puck with Toronto’s Morgan Rielly. 

Rielly initially was assessed a five-minute main penalty for boarding, nonetheless the decision was ultimately overturned. The hit sparked a number of skirmishes, together with separate fights pitting Stamkos towards Matthews and Kucherov towards O’Reilly. 

Level returned six minutes later and completed the sport. Lightning coach Jon Cooper stated earlier that the high-scoring middle can be a game-time choice. Level had an help on Sergachev’s purpose, which put Tampa Bay up 2-0 within the first interval.