The Toronto Maple Leafs’ first-round struggles seemed to be returning again Monday night.
Up 2-1 in the series against the Tampa Bay Lightning, they found themselves down 4-1 after two periods. The Lightning put on a defensive clinic in the first period. Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, who wasn’t his usual stalwart self in the first three games, had stopped 18 of 19 shots. Defenseman Victor Hedman appeared to be in his pre-injury form.
But the Maple Leafs rallied to win 5-4 in overtime on an Alexander Kerfoot power-play goal and grabbed a 3-1 series lead. Toronto can knock off the Lightning at home on Thursday when Michael Bunting is eligible to return from his three-game suspension.
The Lightning are far from out because they have overcome adversity during their three consecutive trips to the Stanley Cup Final and the Maple Leafs haven’t escaped the first round since 2004.
But Toronto is clicking because its stars are. Auston Matthews scored twice on Monday, giving him seven points in four games. Mitch Marner (two assists) and William Nylander (three assists) continued their strong play. Morgan Rielly scored the tying goal after getting the overtime winner in Game 3. Ryan O’Reilly, who had tied Game 3, had two assists Monday and made several strong defensive plays.
The Lightning, meanwhile, have blown second-intermission leads in back-to-back games after going 28-1-2 in the regular season when leading entering the third period. And in the biggest surprise, Vasilevskiy has a 4.33 goals-against average and .856 save percentage.
Which other teams find themselves in trouble?
The Carolina Hurricanes can finish off the series Tuesday night. The banged-up Hurricanes (who are without Max Pacioretty, Andrei Svechnikov and Teuvo Teravainen) are finding enough offense to win, with Mackenzie MacEachern getting two points in Game 4 after he was recalled. The Islanders have one power-play goal in 12 attempts.
The New Jersey Devils won both games at Madison Square Garden after switching to Akira Schmid in net and headed home with a chance to take a lead in the series on Thursday. Schmid has stopped 57 of 59 shots. The Rangers’ power play has gone 0-for-8 over the last two games after Chris Kreider had scored four power-play goals in the first two games. Devils star Jack Hughes scored his third goal of the series Monday while Rangers stars Mika Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin have been held without a goal.
Florida Panthers (1-3)
The Boston Bruins can wrap up the series at home on Wednesday. That’s not unexpected after their record-setting season of 65 wins and 135 points. The Panthers tried Sergei Bobrovsky in net in Game 4 after Alex Lyon was pulled in Game 3, but Bobrovsky gave up five goals on 30 shots. There’s a chance Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron returns in Game 5.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lightning among teams in trouble in first round of NHL playoffs