Matthews leads way with 3-point night as Maple Leafs blank Bolts in series opener
CBC
Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe predicted a "borderline violent" playoff series against a battle-tested opponent.
That was the case both early and late Monday.
In between, Toronto ran the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions out of the rink with speed, tenacity and timely contributions up and down the lineup.
Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner had three points each, Jack Campbell made 24 saves for the second post-season shutout of his career, and the Leafs thumped the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-0 in Game 1 of their first-round matchup.
Marner, meanwhile, snapped a playoff slump that had seen him go 18 contests without finding the back of the net.
"Can't do anything about the past," said the winger, parroting a line he's used all season. "I'm here to focus on the now. I'm here to focus on what I can do to help our team win.
"Just like everyone else in that locker room."
WATCH | Matthews pots a pair as Leafs earn shutout win over Bolts in Game 1:
Jake Muzzin and David Kampf, on a short-handed breakaway, also scored for Toronto, which killed off five Lightning power plays — including an early five-minute major — inside an electric Scotiabank Arena. Morgan Rielly and Ondrej Kase both added two assists.
Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 28 shots for Tampa, which will look to rebound in Game 2 on Wednesday.
"I'm not so sure the Maple Leafs had to play particularly well to beat us tonight," said Lightning head coach Jon Cooper. "You've got to win four and you don't want to give teams any freebies and we probably gave them a little bit of a freebie.
"It's hard to judge either team tonight."
A penalty-filled affair saw the Leafs kill off an early minor before forward Kyle Clifford was assessed a major for boarding and a game misconduct seven minutes into the first period for an ill-advised hit on Tampa's Ross Colton.
But the home side had the better chances down a man for that extended stretch, including an Alexander Kerfoot shot off the post in front of a raucous gathering of 19,338 poised to erupt at any moment.
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