Lightning strike early, beat Maple Leafs to even series

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Talk about resilience.

The two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning haven't lost consecutive playoff games in nearly three years, rattling off 17 consecutive victories following a postseason loss since the start of their 2020 title run.

"Usually a good recipe come playoff time is to not lose two in a row," captain Steven Stamkos said after a 7-3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday night that evened the first-round series between the Atlantic Division rivals at two games apiece.

Game 5 is Tuesday night in Toronto.

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Tampa Bay Lightning center Ross Colton (79) fires the puck past Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin (46) and center Colin Blackwell (11) for a goal during the second period in Game 4 of an NHL hockey first-round playoff series Sunday, May 8, 2022, in Tampa, Fla.  (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

"This group has proven it knows what it takes at this time of the year, and we know how to respond," Stamkos added. "Now that we’ve done that twice now in this series, let’s go out and grab the series lead. That’s got to be the mentality."

Ross Colton scored twice, Andrei Vasilevskiy had 22 saves, and the Lightning got off to a fast start with three goals in the first eight minutes to deny the Maple Leafs an opportunity to take a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven matchup.

"We came on the road here and got a split. ....That’s a successful road trip in that sense," said Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe, whose team won Game 3 to regain home-ice advantage. "Whether you lose the game 2-1 or in the manner that we did it doesn’t matter. You wash it and move on. We’ll be