Corey Perry scored in his return game to the Lightning, helping Tampa defeat Toronto 5-2 Saturday night at Scotiabank Arena.
Leafs’ fans had about five minutes of enjoyment before Toronto’s demise. Matias Maccelli kept his hot streak going, scoring his 13th of the season and third in as many games. The winger converted a two-on-one pass from William Nylander at 4:50 of the first period to make it 1-0.
Tampa responded with five straight, four coming in the opening frame. Ryan McDonagh evened the score at the 5:36 mark, beating Leaf’s goaltender Anthony Stolarz with a wrist shot from the face-off dot.
Jake Guentzel put the Lightning in front at 12:30 of the first, poking home a rebound off a Brayden Point shot that hit the post.
Perry added his 12th of the season a little more than a minute later, gathering in a Brandon Hagel pass and firing it by Stolarz.
Oliver Bjorkstrand finished off the first period scoring with a power play goal at 15:06. Nikita Kucherov, who had four assists on the night, fired a cross-ice pass to Bjorkstrand, who one-timed the puck into the back of the net to make it 4-1.
Neither team scored in the second. Hagel added an empty net goal at 15:41 of the third period. Nicholas Robertson scored a determined but meaningless wrap-around goal with just over thirty seconds to make the final 5-2.
The Leafs have now dropped seven straight. Next up, a Tuesday night trip to the Bell Centre to take on the Canadiens.
