Lightning dominate Maple Leafs in Toronto to take Game 1

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Brayden Point scored twice and the Tampa Bay Lightning routed the Toronto Maple Leafs 7-3 on Tuesday night in the opening game of the teams' first-round playoff series.

Nikita Kucherov and Corey Perry each had a goal and two assists, and Anthony Cirelli and Ross Colton finished with a goal and an assist for Tampa Bay. Pierre-Edouard Bellemare also scored for the Lightning, who scored four goals on the power play. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 28 saves in his 100th playoff start.

Ryan O’Reilly, William Nylander and Calle Jarnkrok scored for Toronto. Mitch Marner had three assists and Auston Matthews added a pair. Ilya Samsonov allowed six goals on 29 shots before being replaced by Joseph Woll at the start the third period. The rookie netminder finished with four stops.

Toronto winger Michael Bunting was whistled for a match penalty and game misconduct for an illegal check to the head of Tampa Bay's Erik Cernak. The hit occurred with 4:20 remaining in the second period. Cernak, who did not have the puck, fell backward to the ice and went to the locker room.

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Andrei Vasilevskiy #88 of the Tampa Bay Lightning celebrates with teammate Pat Maroon #14 after defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game One of the First Round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Scotiabank Arena on April 18, 2023 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada (Andrew Lahodynskyj/NHLI via Getty Images)

Game 2 in the best-of-seven series is Thursday night in Toronto.

The Lightning beat the Maple Leafs in seven games at the same stage of the playoffs last spring on the way to their third consecutive Stanley Cup appearance. Meanwhile,