With a massive playoff track record, Stanley Cup champion Tampa wasn’t particularly worried about the relegation threat posed in Game 6 of Lightning against Toronto. At least in public, none of the Lightning players and coaches were nervous.
“We were leading 3-2 and losing 2-3. Because we played a lot, we had almost all of the scenarios in our hands. We have a great group of players, we showed ourselves well in difficult situations. Fortunately, we play at home again. Of course, this is not a guarantee of victory, but in a match we can fly, It is more enjoyable to play on our field,” he said. Lightning head coach John Cooper said.
Although during the sixth meeting Tampa was on the verge of relegation, his words were completely justified, but he successfully coped with the task of continuing the series. The home team took the lead with a rather late goal from Ondrej Palat, and in the second period Anthony Cirelli found the puck in the minority and doubled the Southerners advantage.
To this Toronto responded with three goals in a row: first, regular season top sniper Auston Matthews closed the gap, and then John Tavares scored a double that has been brutally criticized for poor performance in the current playoffs.
He played for less than 10 minutes under the threat of lightning strikes. Realizing a numerical advantage in the middle of the third period, the goal eliminated by Nikita Kucherov turned the match into overtime.
Overtime could have been extended until the second overtime, but Brayden Point’s goal deprived fans of the continuation of the current show. “Tampa” equalized the score in the series, and the seventh game will be decisive in the confrontation between “Lightning” and “Maple Leaves”.
In addition to Kucherov, Andrey Vasilevsky became a real hero, reflecting 30 out of 30 shots and making several notable saves in overtime. At a critical moment in the game, as Canadian observers say in such cases, Vasilevski “made the difference” between victory and defeat. Vasilevsky has not lost in the playoffs since 2020: he has 17 wins in 17 games and has incredible statistics (1.47 goals per game, 94.2% of shots saved, 5 wins).
“Our guys have proven that how we win is not that important to us. We just want the job done.” Lightning captain Steven Stamkos spoke heavily after the game.
🏒 Ovechkin, Panarin, Vasilevsky? Do you want to know which of us is on fire today? Subscribe to our Telegram channel!
