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<\/a><\/p>\nBy Frank Pingue<\/p>\n
(Reuters) – The Toronto Maple Leafs finally exorcised the postseason demons that have haunted the storied franchise for nearly two decades with a 2-1 overtime win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday to reach the second round of the NHL’s Stanley Cup Playoffs.<\/p>\n
John Tavares scored the series winner when he took the puck from behind the Lightning net, skated in front before making a quick turnaround and unleashed a shot that went in off Tampa Bay defender Darren Raddysh’s skate.<\/p>\n
Perhaps no team began the postseason with more pressure than Toronto, a talented but long-underachieving club that needed to win a playoff series for the first time since 2004 to avoid loud calls for major organizational changes.<\/p>\n
“Obviously it’s a bit of a monkey off our back and we still got plenty of work to do but this one obviously feels really great,” said Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews.<\/p>\n
Toronto’s last postseason series win came long before the arrival of gifted goal scorer Matthews (2016), explosive winger Mitch Marner (2016) and durable captain Tavares (2018).<\/p>\n
That core trio has endured their share of playoff heartache, most recently in 2022 when Tampa Bay beat Toronto in a decisive seventh game as the Maple Leafs lost their opening postseason series for a sixth consecutive year.<\/p>\n
And while ousting a Lightning team that reached the Stanley Cup Final in each of the previous three seasons has brought this group to unchartered territory, it is also just the first step for a Maple Leafs team with lofty ambitions.<\/p>\n
“It’s a little bit of a relief for sure just to be able to get that done,” Marner said. “But got to make sure we’re ready because it just gets harder and harder.”<\/p>\n
As the best-of-seven series returned to Tampa with the Maple Leafs ahead 3-2, the visitors were desperate to close things out rather than take their chances in a do-or-die seventh game.<\/p>\n
And for once the Maple Leafs, who had gone 0-11 in series-clinching games since they last advanced, gave their eternally optimistic fan base a reason to celebrate.<\/p>\n
Toronto opened the scoring with about six minutes left in the second period when Matthews unleashed a slapshot from the right faceoff circle that beat Andrei Vasilevskiy.<\/p>\n
The Lightning drew level when captain Steven Stamkos, alone in front of the net, fired home a rebound with just under 16 minutes left in regulation.<\/p>\n
The Tavares goal less than five minutes into overtime allowed the entire Maple Leafs organization and their fan base to breathe a collective sigh of relief.<\/p>\n
The Maple Leafs will next face the winner of Sunday’s game between the top-seeded Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers.<\/p>\n
\n(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Jamie Freed)<\/p>\n
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