TAMPA, Fla. —
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It was 2-0 after one period, and the Maple Leafs were fortunate the deficit wasn’t bigger.
Goaltender Ilya Samsonov stopped Brandon Hagel‘s penalty shot a little less than eight minutes into the game, but the Lightning’s persistence paid off when Killorn — and then, Sergachev — scored their first goals of the series off perfect feeds from Nikita Kucherov.
In both cases, Samsonov was positioned to defend a possible shot from Kucherov when the Lightning star instead delivered the puck to Killorn and Sergachev from the right circle.
Killorn scored his first goal on a power play. His second came from on a shot from the left circle that beat Samsonov to the far post for a three-goal lead.
Samsonov stopped 27 shots.
Since winning the series opener on the road by four goals, the Lightning have lost three in a row heading into Game 5.
“You have to look at the big picture. We are still going to the rink,” Cooper said. “The series is not done yet.”
ESPN Stats & Information and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
