Adversity sparks opportunity for Lightning’s Nick Paul
Global News
The Lightning were pushed to the brink by a desperate Toronto Maple Leafs squad, but in the end they came away with a 2-1 win in Game 7 of their best-of-seven series.
TORONTO — The Tampa Bay Lightning are no strangers to adversity.
The back-to-back Stanley Cup champions found themselves in yet another difficult situation Saturday night. And as they have so many times in the past, the battle-tested group was able to rise to the occasion.
The Lightning were pushed to the brink by a desperate Toronto Maple Leafs squad, but in the end they came away with a 2-1 win in Game 7 of their best-of-seven series.
Tampa Bay has now won nine consecutive playoff series since they were swept by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first round of the 2019 playoffs, with this first round series against Toronto proving to be one of their toughest tests in that span.
“It was a close-fought series. They have some unbelievable players,” said star Tampa defenceman Victor Hedman after the game. “It was a close game today, it could have gone either way.”
But in the end the game went to the Lightning, although it was a hard-fought victory. Tampa Bay lost forward Brayden Point to an injury in the first period, and although Point attempted to rejoin the game in the second, he was ultimately unable to continue.
The Lightning were able to withstand the loss of Point, who had 28 goals in 66 regular-season games this year.
With the loss of one of their best players, Tampa once again found themselves forced to step up in the face of a challenging situation.
