Tampa Bay collapsed in confusing fashion at home.
Alexander Kerfoot (center) wildly fanned his winning goal. AOP / USA TODAY Sports
The Amalie Arena scoreboard still looked safe 4-1 midway through the third period when Tampa Bay hosted Toronto in the fourth game of the series.
The numbers could also have been 5-1 if Brandon Hagel would have gotten the puck Ilya Samsonov behind his back in the opening set.
Finally, in 49:44, the experienced host team started to melt down completely, when they conceded three goals in just over six minutes.
First Austin Matthews surprised Andrei Vasilevsky with its sharp edge. Then the same man skillfully directed the puck into the backpack. Morgan Reilly tied the game with his layup just under four minutes before the end of the third period.
The beating of Tampa continued in the overtime, and the solution was already seen in 64.14, when Alexander Kerfoot guided Toronto to a 5–4 victory with superiority.
With the win, the Canadian club now leads the match series 3–1. The last time Toronto won a playoff series was in 2004.
Derby to levels
New Jersey, on the other hand, tied the Hudson River Derby at 2-2 as the Devils beat the New York Rangers 3-1 at Madison Square Garden.
The hero of the visitors was the Swiss defender Jonas Siegenthalerwho fed by Jack Hughes scored the opening goal and completed the 2–1 victory himself.
He was responsible for the last goal of the match Ondrej Palatwho completed the 3–1 final scores to zero. Erik Haula got an assist on this goal.
– We have taken a couple of really good steps forward. The third game was good for us as a whole. We learn how difficult it is to win and what needs to be done for it. The same thing in this foursome. We continued in the same way, Haula stated after the game to nhl.com.
Kaapo Kako cooled Rangers as usual”in the Kid line” by Alexis Lafrenière and By Filip Chytil alongside. The trio was cheerful, but it was two degrees below freezing in the power statistics, and none of the trio reached the points.
Rangers fans must have had extra heart palpitations in the third period when the star goaltender Igor Šestjorkin hurt himself a little in a violent fight by Nico Hischier with. However, the Russian goalkeeper was able to continue the match.