Unheralded Nick Paul steals show in Game 7 as Tampa Bay Lightning eliminate Toronto Maple Leafs

Tampa Bay's pursuit of a third consecutive Stanley Cup continues after the Lightning topped the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1 in Game 7 of their first-round playoff series on Saturday night.

Third-line center Nick Paul, an in-season acquisition from the Ottawa Senators, scored twice for Tampa Bay in the win. Morgan Rielly had the lone marker for Toronto.

Tampa Bay now moves on to face the Presidents' Trophy-winning Florida Panthers in the second round, a rematch of a heated first-round series last year.

Toronto had two chances to send Tampa Bay packing after leading the series 3-2 following Game 5. The Leafs failed on both counts, and the Game 7 defeat marked a fifth consecutive first-round playoff series loss for Toronto. They are now 0-5 in their last five games with an opportunity to close a team out.

Tampa Bay hasn't lost a first-round series since 2019, when they won the regular season's Presidents Trophy only to be swept from the playoffs in four games by Columbus. They responded to that by going on back-to-back Stanley Cup runs.

The series against Toronto was hard-fought throughout, with wide-ranging momentum swings. The Leafs and Lightning traded lopsided wins through the first four games, to set up a come-from-behind win for Toronto in Game 5. Tampa staved off elimination in Game 6 with a 4-3 overtime win, the only game in the series that required extra time.

The Maple Leafs jumped all over Tampa Bay early but couldn't slip anything past the rock-solid Andrei Vasilevskiy. It was still 0-0 late in the frame when Lightning center Brayden Point went sliding into the boards and had his right leg buckle under. Point writhed in immediate pain and was unable to put weight on the leg as he was helped off the ice.

Brayden