Victor Hedman, Lightning beat Maple Leafs to even series

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Victor Hedman had a goal and three assists for his first four-point playoff game and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-3 on Wednesday night in Game 2 to even the first-round series.

Nikita Kucherov added a goal and two assists and Brayden Point, Corey Perry and Brandon Hagel also scored for two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 31 saves in a bounce-back performance after the Lightning dropped the opener 5-0.

"I don’t know how far teams go when their big guys aren’t going," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "You need them, especially at times when your back’s against the wall. Can’t say our backs were against the wall, it was one game, but we needed tonight. They stepped up and it started with our goaltender. He was outstanding."

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Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman (77) celebrates his goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs with center Steven Stamkos (91) during the first period of Game 2 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs first-round series Wednesday, May 4, 2022, in Toronto.  (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

Mitch Marner had a goal and an assist for Toronto, Michael Bunting and Alexander Kerfoot also scored and Jack Campbell made 29 saves. Auston Matthews had two assists.

"Too many penalties," Marner said. They’ve got a lot of guys that can make plays. We’ve got to stay out of the box."

Game 3 is Friday night in Florida.

The Lightning opened the scoring on a power play with 1.4 seconds left in the first period. After making a big stop on Point from the slot, Campbell was beaten by Hedman from in tight on a broken play