TAMPA, Fla. — Auston Matthews knows as well as anyone that Toronto‘s job is not finished.
The Maple Leafs took advantage of another late collapse by the Tampa Bay Lightning, moving to the brink of their first playoff series win in nearly two decades Monday night with a 5-4 overtime win in Game 4 of the best-of-seven matchup.
Toronto hasn’t won a playoff series since 2004 and has been ousted from the first round each of the past six postseasons, including a year ago when Tampa Bay rallied from 2-1 and 3-2 deficits to advance in seven games. Overall, since winning Game 7 of the 2004 conference quarterfinals against the Senators, the Maple Leafs have lost 10 straight playoff games with a chance to clinch a series.
“The fourth one is the hardest to get,” Matthews said after Alexander Kerfoot scored on the power play at 4:14 of overtime to give the Maple Leafs a 3-1 series lead.
“It’s feel different,” coach Sheldon Keefe said, though he also noted it’s important for the team not to get ahead of itself.
“We’ve got a tough task,” the coach added, looking ahead to Game 5 in Toronto on Thursday night.
The Lightning have won 11 of 12 playoff series over the past three postseasons, advancing to the Stanley Cup Final three straight years and winning the championship twice.
“We know what we’re up against, what they’ve accomplished” Matthews said.
Alex Killorn scored twice in helping the Lightning build a 4-1 lead that the Maple Leafs erased with three goals — two by Matthews — in a span of 6 minutes, 20 seconds. Morgan Rielly‘s second goal of the series tied it 4-all at 16:04 of the third period.
It was the second time in three nights Toronto rallied late to force overtime. Ryan O’Reilly‘s goal with 60 seconds left in regulation kept the Maple Leafs alive in Game 3, and O’Reilly won it at 19:45 of OT for a 2-1 series lead.
“We scored enough goals to win. You’ve got to keep them out of your net,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said.
Noel Acciari scored for the second straight game for Toronto, deflecting Justin Holl‘s shot past Vasilevskiy early in the second period to briefly get the Maple Leafs within one goal before Tampa Bay pulled away with goals by Stamkos and Killorn that made it 4-1.
“Maybe there was a feeling that we’ll put it away,” Cooper said. “Obviously, Toronto had a different idea.”
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.
College football reporter; joined ESPN in 2008. Graduate of Northwestern University.
Boston College quarterback Thomas Castellanos, who lost his starting job earlier this week, will not be returning to the team, he announced Thursday night.
Castellanos, who started 12 games last season and retained the top job under new coach Bill O’Brien, wrote on X that “unfortunately, all good things come to an end, even though it’s sooner than I would like.” He did not mention the transfer portal in his departing message and has not officially entered it. The junior from Waycross, Georgia, started his career at UCF and appeared in five games in 2022.
O’Brien said Tuesday that Grayson James, who replaced Castellanos in last week’s win against Syracuse, will start Saturday when Boston College visits No. 14 SMU. Castellanos “wasn’t real thrilled” with the decision, O’Brien said, adding that the quarterback decided to step away from the team for several days.
Castellanos had 2,248 passing yards and 1,113 rushing yards last season under coach Jeff Hafley, passing for 15 touchdowns and adding 13 on the ground. He had 18 touchdown passes and only five interceptions this season, but his accuracy dipped in recent weeks, and he completed only 2 of 7 passes against Syracuse before being replaced.
In his statement, Castellanos thanked both coaching staffs he played for at Boston College and wrote that he had “some of the best experiences of my life in the Eagles Nest and I will truly cherish these memories forever.”
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida quarterback DJ Lagway is “ready to play,” coach Billy Napier said Thursday on his weekly radio show.
Napier removed Lagway from the team’s injury report and penciled him in to start against No. 21 LSU in the Swamp on Saturday.
Lagway practiced every day this week while progressing from a strained left hamstring. The highly touted freshman was carted off the field against Georgia on Nov. 2. Tests revealed a “less significant” injury than initially feared, and now he’s back in time to face the Tigers.
The Gators (4-5, 2-4 Southeastern Conference) need him. They have to win two of their final three regular-season games to become bowl eligible.
LSU (6-3, 3-2) has struggled mightily against dual-threat QBs, including Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, who ran for 185 yards and four touchdowns last week.
Lagway returns after walk-on and Yale transfer Aidan Warner started in his place against Texas. Warner threw two interceptions and was 12-of-25 passing for 132 yards in a 49-17 loss.
Etienne was downgraded from questionable to out on Thursday night’s SEC availability report.
Etienne left Georgia’s win over Florida with an upper-body injury on Nov. 2 and did not return. He played limited snaps in last week’s 28-10 loss at Ole Miss, carrying the ball six times for 24 yards.
Etienne leads the Bulldogs with 477 rushing yards and seven touchdowns this season.
The loss is another blow to Georgia’s banged-up backfield. Cash Jones is also listed as questionable while Branson Robinson remains out after missing the past three games with a knee injury.
That leaves true freshman Nate Frazier as the only healthy Bulldogs running back who has played meaningful snaps this year. Frazier is second on the team with 333 rushing yards and three touchdowns.