Toronto Maple Leafs devastate Tampa Bay Lightning with 7-3 win -NHL Update
Tampa Bay is in search of some motivation, but Toronto took advantage of their vulnerable situation which devastated them as Maple Leafs routed Lightning, 7-3, on Tuesday night, January 3, 2012, at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Joffrey Lupul was amazing during the contest as the young right winger picked up four points (1 goal, 3 assists), bringing his total to 44 points (18 goals, 26 assists) this 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season, which has put him near the top of the ranks.
"I never thought I would be near the top of the League in scoring, but I thought I could be a successful player that contributes offensively and plays a somewhat physical game and that's been my goal the whole way through -- to keep playing solid hockey", said Lupul, who tied a season high for points in a game and now has 44 points on the season.
"Our guys did a great job tonight blocking shots. Our goalie made big saves. We were a little more assertive on our clears when we got those loose pucks and we were making sure they got down the ice”.
Toronto showed why it is one of the best among all other teams when it comes to scoring in the major league, as Tampa Bay's captain, Vincent Lecavalier, kicked off the scoring with his 14th of the season, 58 seconds into the opening period, but Maple Leafs countered back instantly as Joffrey Lupul and Carl Gunnarsson added two straight to take the lead before the midway mark.
Things got tense in the first period as 14 minutes of penalty time were awarded to various players from both sides due to a number of incidents of players roughing each other up.
Steven Stamkos got his 27th goal at the 11:55 mark, while Mikhail Grabovski took Toronto right back and Pavel Kubina fired off a powerful shot through Maple Leafs’ goalie, Jonas Gustavsson, which would be their last, with Darryl Boyce and Matt Frattin getting two more for Tampa Bay.
Dion Phaneuf and Phil Kessel fired off two power play goals in the third period to take the match totally out of Tampa Bay’s reach.
Toronto Maple Leafs will be facing Winnipeg Jets on Thursday, while Ottawa Senators hosts Tampa Bay Lightning on the same day.
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