The Tampa Bay Lightning visit the Toronto Maple Leafs Thursday for Game 2 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals. Puck drop from Scotiabank Arena is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET (ESPN). Below, we analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s lines around the Lightning vs. Maple Leafs odds, and make our expert NHL picks and predictions.
The Lightning opened last season’s playoffs with a 5-0 stinker in Game 1 in Toronto. Tampa Bay wasn’t about to let that happen again.
Light-scoring Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, who hadn’t scored a goal in the final 20 regular-season games, opened the scoring. Anthony Cirelli then took advantage of a dumb Leafs turnover, beating a helpless Ilya Samsonov, and you could hear a pin drop at Scotiabank Arena after just 7:18.
A T.J. Brodie holding penalty late in the period gave the Lightning a chance on the power play, and Nikita Kucherov took advantage, scoring with 3.6 seconds left to stun Toronto, as the Lightning jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the opening game Tuesday night.