Tavares, Marner lead Maple Leafs past Lightning, series tied
TORONTO (AP) — John Tavares had his first playoff hat trick and the Toronto Maple Leafs rebounded from a poor playoff start with a lopsided 7-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night to even the teams’ first-round playoff series at a game apiece. Mitch Marner had two goals and an assist, William Nylander added a goal and an assist, and Zach Aston-Reese also scored for Toronto. Ilya Samsonov made 20 saves for Toronto after being pulled in Tuesday’s 7-3 loss. Ian Cole and Corey Perry scored for the Lightning.