Michael Eyssimont had a goal and an assist as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 on Thursday to force Game 6 in their first-round playoff series.
Anthony Cirelli, with a goal and an assist, Nick Paul and Alex Killorn, into an empty net, also scored for Tampa. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 28 saves.
Tied 1-1 after a spirited first period, the Lightning pushed ahead at 4:24 of the second when Eyssimont beat Samsonov through the pads from a tough angle for his first goal of the series. Giordano rejoined his teammates on the bench shortly after the restart after getting looked at by the trainer. The Leafs continued to press desperately looking for the tie and send the teams to a third straight overtime before Killorn sealed it with five seconds left.
Vasilevskiy, who had allowed 16 goals in three games coming into Thursday, looked more like his Vezina Trophy-winning self on a Toronto man advantage later in the period with a couple of massive stops.
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