Alexander Kerfoot scored 4:14 into overtime to give the Toronto Maple Leafs an unlikely 5-4 comeback win in Game 4 of their first-round Stanley Cup playoff series with the host Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday.
The Maple Leafs hold a 3-1 lead in the series and can clinch with a victory in Game 5 in Toronto on Thursday. The Leafs haven’t won a postseason series since 2004, a drought that includes a seven-game loss to Tampa Bay in the first round of last year’s Stanley Cup playoffs.
The Lightning led 2-0 after a dominant first period and extended their lead to 4-1 through two periods. However, Auston Matthews’ goal at 9:44 of the third period sparked a major comeback for the Maple Leafs, who scored three times within a 6:20 span to even the score.
Matthews struck again with a power-play goal at the 12:29 mark. Morgan Rielly then tallied the equalizer, blasting a shot from the high slot through traffic at 16:04 of the third frame.
William Nylander had three assists for Toronto. In addition to Matthews’ two goals, Mark Giordano, Mitch Marner, and Ryan O’Reilly all collected two assists, and Noel Acciari scored the Maple Leafs’ other goal.
Marner has multiple points in all four games of the series, totaling 10 points (two goals, eight assists).
Maple Leafs goaltender Ilya Samsonov stopped 27 of 31 shots, most notably a Brandon Hagel penalty shot in the first period.
Alex Killorn had two goals and Mikhail Sergachev had a goal and an assist for the Lightning. Nikita Kucherov and Victor Hedman each had two assists.
Killorn tallied the sixth multi-goal game of his playoff career, ending a 29-game postseason scoring drought dating back to the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs.
Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 32 of 37 shots.
It was Toronto’s second consecutive overtime win, after Rielly scored the game-winner in Game 3 on Saturday. Tampa Bay also held a late lead in that game before O’Reilly’s equalizer with a minute remaining in regulation.
The Lightning are 1-9 in their last 10 playoff games that have gone to overtime.
–Field Level Media
