The Toronto Maple Leafs (14-11-4) recorded another great win in December. They are 3-0-1 to start the month, and they showed their might tonight by beating the Tampa Bay Lightning (16-11-2) 2-0. Morgan Rielly scored a beautiful goal in the first, and Auston Matthews converted on an empty-netter in the third, but the star of the show was goaltender Dennis Hildeby, who recorded his first shutout in net.
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The Maple Leafs now have 32 points on the season, just one point behind the Montreal Canadiens (15-10-3) for the league’s third playoff spot. Atlantic Division. The Lightning, meanwhile, remain at 34, missing an opportunity to extend their lead in the division.
Summary of the game
The first period started with more shots from the Lightning, but the Maple Leafs earned an early win. Defenseman Morgan Rielly showed great hands on the rush, sliding one past Tampa Bay netminder Jonas Johansson for a highlight-reel goal. By the end of the first, Toronto was up 1-0.
The second period saw no goals from either team, although Tampa Bay did have some big chances. Things started messy in the third. Three minutes later, a knee-on-knee hit by Gage Goncalves on Dakota Mermis caused Dakota Joshua and Max Crozier to drop the gloves. All three would receive a five-minute penalty: Goncalves for kneeling, and Joshua and Crozier for fighting. After review, Toronto winger Bobby McCann was given a game misconduct for high-firing Goncalves in the head.
Neither team got any offensive momentum from that, but the Lightning almost earned a win with an extra man due to an empty net. At 7:05 PM, Brayden Point had a shot right in front, but it went off the post. Just before the buzzer, at 7:59 p.m., Auston Matthews scored on the empty-netter to seal the 2-0 victory.
Tampa Bay netminder Jonah Johansson stopped 22 of 23 shots for a .957 save percentage, but Toronto goalie Dennis Hildeby was legendary, stopping all 29 shots that came his way. The Lightning had 24 penalty minutes, which was double the Maple Leafs’ 12. Neither team took advantage of the power play, with Toronto going 0-for-2 on the man advantage.
The Maple Leafs continue their homestead against the San Jose Sharks on Thursday, December 11 at 7:00 PM, the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday, December 13, and the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday, December 16, before traveling to the Washington Capitals on Thursday, December 18.
The Lightning still have to face the Montreal Canadiens (Tuesday, December 9), New Jersey Devils (Thursday, December 11) and New York Islanders (Saturday, December 13) before returning home to play the Florida Panthers on Saturday, December 15.
Three stars
- Dennis Hildeby (29 saves, 1,000 SV%)
- Morgan Rielly (1 goal, plus-1 plus/minus)
- Jonas Johansson (22 saves, 0.957 SV%)
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