Thrilling Comeback Effort Falls Short: Maple Leafs Triumph 5-3 Over Lightning with Matthews' Return

Saturday, November 30th, 2024

In Tampa, Florida, Auston Matthews made a notable return to the lineup by contributing an assist, while Joseph Woll delivered an impressive performance with 38 saves. This led the Toronto Maple Leafs to secure a 5-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night.

Chris Tanev played a pivotal role for Toronto with a goal and an assist, and Mitch Marner bolstered the team's efforts with two assists. Supporting the win, Nick Robertson, John Tavares, and William Nylander also found the back of the net. Nylander's empty-net goal in the third period was assisted by Matthews, marking his return after sitting out nine games due to an upper-body injury.

For the Lightning, Mikey Eyssimont, Jake Guentzel, and Cam Atkinson each scored a goal, but the team felt the absence of their leading scorer, Nikita Kucherov.

Toronto initially commanded a 4-0 lead in the third period before the Lightning launched a comeback, netting three goals within a bit over six minutes to narrow the gap to a single goal with just 2:22 remaining.

Regarding takeaways, Toronto has impressively limited their opponents to two or fewer goals in seven of their last 11 games. Remarkably, the team holds an all-time record of 207-36-36 when both Matthews and Marner manage to register a point in the same game.

On the Lightning's side, Victor Hedman achieved a milestone by recording two assists, which elevated him to the position of the franchise leader with 590 career assists, surpassing Marty St. Louis. Meanwhile, Kucherov is currently listed as day-to-day due to a lower body injury, after having sustained it during a game against Nashville on Friday.

A key moment occurred when Robertson scored just 33 seconds following Chris Tanev's goal,

Tampa Bay Lightning vs Toronto Maple Leafs Game Stats

Related Links

• Tampa Bay Lightning News & Updates
• Tampa Bay Lightning Schedule & Scores
• Toronto Maple Leafs News & Updates
• Toronto Maple Leafs Schedule & Scores
• NHL News