4
0
Massive choke by the Lightning puts them on the brink.
TOR-5
TB-4 (OT)
Toronto Leads the Series 3-1
Andrei Vasilevskiy allowed five goals on 37 shots for the loss. This has been the worst playoff series of his career and he’s dragging his team down with him. There’s just no excuse.
First Period
9:57 TB Killorn (1), (Kucherov, Hedman)(PP)
18:27 TB Sergachev (1), (Kucherov, Point)
Second Period
4:51 TOR Acciari (2), (Holl, Reilly)
11:31 TB Stamkos (1), (Hedman, Perbix)
18:49 TB Killorn (2), (Hagel, Sergachev)
Third Period
9:44 TOR Matthews (2), (Marner, Nylander)
12:29 TOR Matthews (3), (Nylander, Giordano)(PP)
16:04 TOR Reilly (2), (Marner, O’Reilly)
Overtime
4:14 TOR Kerfoot (1), (Giordano, Nylander)(PP)
Alex Killorn was the game’s second star. Game Five might be his last in a Lightning uniform.
There’s nothing to break down. They had a three goal lead in the Third Period and this is professional hockey. That should be a death sentence for the team that’s losing. Stopped managing the puck. Started losing defensive zone draws. Couldn’t get a situational save. I could sit here and tell you how, again, the Lightning absolutely dominated this game. I could sit here again and tell you how they should be up 3-1 in this series heading into a close out game with Toronto on the brink. But, instead, veteran team can’t protect a lead to save their lives not because they’re athletically incapable, but because they just can’t manage details to save their lives. Just no excuse.
Darren Raddysh was +1 with 1 shot, 6 hits, and 1 blocked shot in 25:01. The emergence of Raddysh and Nick Perbix this season speaks to the fact that there’s some dudes who can play hockey down in Syracuse. The Crunch haven’t won a bunch of games by accident this season, and when talking heads up north start prematurely writing the organization’s epitaph, remember that. There’s several lower line and lower pair players on this team that are nearing the end of their NHL careers, and some underappreciated new blood in this organization ready to rise to the occasion. Darren Raddysh is one such example.
Box score and extended statistics from NHL.com.
