TORONTO (AP) — John Tavares had his first playoff hat trick and the Toronto Maple Leafs rebounded from a poor playoff start with a lopsided 7-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night to even the teams’ first-round playoff series at a game apiece.
Mitch Marner had two goals and an assist, William Nylander added a goal and an assist, and Zach Aston-Reese also scored for Toronto.
Morgan Rielly tied a franchise record with four assists. Auston Matthews also had two assists for the Maple Leafs, whose stars stepped up. Ilya Samsonov made 19 saves for Toronto after being pulled in Tuesday’s 7-3 loss.
Ian Cole and Corey Perry scored for the Lightning, who were without injured defensemen Victor Hedman and Erik Cernak. Andrei Vasilevskiy, who has played every minute of Lightning postseason action since 2020, allowed seven goals on 35 shots.
The series shifts to Florida, where Games 3 and 4 of the best-of-seven set are scheduled for Saturday and Monday.
RANGERS 5, DEVILS 1
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Chris Kreider scored two power-play goals in a three-goal second period and New York stunned New Jersey to a take a 2-0 lead on the road in their first-round playoff series.
Patrick Kane added a goal and two assists and fellow trade deadline acquisition Vladimir Tarasenko scored for the second straight game as the Rangers again had their way with the young Devils.
Kaapo Kakko also scored and Adam Fox added two more assists to give him six in two games. Igor Shesterkin had a relatively easy night, making 21 saves.
Erik Haula scored for New Jersey. Vitek Vanecek finished with 26 saves in a game that got one-sided and chippy late.
The best-of-seven series shifts across the Hudson River to Madison Square Garden for Games 3 and 4 on Friday and Sunday, respectively.
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AP NHL Playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
