Three redemption stories power Maple Leafs to comeback win over Lightning in Game 5

For 23 minutes and 35 seconds, Game 5 was Hell on ice for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Especially for goaltender Jack Campbell, whose supposed redemption was quickly and mercilessly contorted in a funhouse mirror. After being pulled by coach Sheldon Keefe in Toronto’s 7-3 Game 4 humiliation versus the Tampa Bay Lightning, Campbell’s Game 5 began as a continuation of the nightmare: Two goals, four shots, beaten cleanly on wristers from Steven Stamkos to the blocker side, then Victor Hedman to the glove side. It was 2-0 Tampa before the game was seven minutes old. The Leafs were paralyzed, floundering, outshot 14-4 in the opening frame

Was this is it? A meltdown at Scotiabank Arena from which the Leafs would likely never recover? Heading back to Tampa to face elimination in Game 6?

It looked that way. But Jason Spezza happened. First, the 38-year-old veteran took it upon himself to speak to Campbell during a TV timeout after the two quick goals. According to every Leaf who spoke to media after Game 5, Spezza also delivered a mini sermon during the first intermission, insisting that what the team had given to that point wasn’t good enough. 

In the second period, Campbell didn’t just settle down. He was absolutely crucial in keeping his team alive. The Leafs won back some momentum with a power-play goal on a tip by captain John Tavares that halved the score to 2-1, but the Bolts easily could’ve muted the Scotiabank Arena crowd several times after that – most notably when an egregious turnover by defenseman Morgan Rielly sent big Lightning left winger Nick Paul on a breakaway. But Campbell denied Paul’s point-blank wrist shot. It was Campbell’s biggest save of the series so far. He made several more timely stops that period, too. Thanks to him, the score held at 2-1, and the Leafs and Lightning were within one goal of each other through 40 minutes for the first time in the series.

“For me, what really stood out with Jack’s reaction coming out of Game 4 is he hasn’t been in these situations a lot in terms of playoffs and being ‘The Guy’ and riding the wave and all of that – obviously there was last season, but it’s only his second go-round, really,” Keefe said after Game 5. “What I liked about how he handled it is, to me, he handled it like a veteran. ‘It wasn’t my night, I’m going to wash it, I’m going to come back and be good today.’ And I think that’s how he handled it again here in this game.”

So, on your scapegoat scorecard: there’s redemption for one Leaf.

Next up? Tavares, who entered Game 5 without a goal, drawing media criticism for his slow foot speed and overall ineffectiveness in the series.

He vowed to be better following Game 4. Keefe prophesized before Game 5 that Tavares would have his moment in the series. After putting the Leafs on the board in the second, he was the catalyst for Toronto’s tying goal early in the third, using two skills of his that have definitely not eroded – superior stickhandling and puck protection – to elude defenseman Erik Cernak and create space behind the Lightning net before hitting a wide-open Rielly for a one-timer in the slot. Finally, Tavares had made his mark on the series. It was a tie game, 2-2.

“I’m not going to cut corners and cheat for offense – I understand the game that I need to play and it being a long series and just staying with it,” Tavares said. “I would’ve liked maybe some better looks in some of the other games, but I still felt good about certain things and some habits, parts of my game and looking forward to today’s opportunity. It was a hell of a hockey game, hell of an atmosphere and nice to contribute.”

Campbell: check. Tavares: check. Two scapegoats redeemed.

But the Leaf forward who elevated the team more than anyone else on Tuesday night was one called out in the media for a lack of effort in the series and parked on the third line to open Game 5. That was Nylander. He put the puck on net for Toronto’s first goal; controlled the zone entry that led to the second; and scored the third to put Toronto up 3-2, taking a feed after a strong forecheck from Ilya Mikheyev.

Time and again, it was the series’ lightning-rod players rallying to deliver for the Leafs in big moments Tuesday night. In the end, though they needed their superstars, too. After Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh cleaned up a Leafs’ defensive zone breakdown at 8:17 of the third with a booming slapshot to tie the game 3-3, Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner had their big-stage opportunity. It materialized as, of all things, a 2-on-1, which, ahem, wasn’t advisable for the Lightning to offer up.

The setup? A Marner “shot” that was actually a pass off the pad of Tampa goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy. As Tavares revealed after the game, it was inspired by ‘Rebound,’ a practice game the team plays, in which the puck carrier rifles a low shot off the goalie’s pad hoping to set up a teammate for a rebound goal. Marner played it to perfection, and the world’s No. 1 goal scorer buried the offering.

“He’s such a special player that any time he’s got the puck I just try to get open or try to anticipate it’s coming to me, because he can find ways that not a lot of people can to get me the puck,” Matthews said. “So just an unbelievable IQ play by him.”

So what was shaping up to be a pathetic showing from the home team turned into a triumphant and perhaps transformative one in Game 5, with Scotiabank Arena reaching peak decibel levels not heard for years in a 4-3 Toronto win. Will this victory go down as one that turned the tide and established the character of a group that failed to show up in the clutch so many times in recent postseasons? Maybe. As Keefe put it Tuesday, it will if the Leafs go on to win the series and it’ll be forgotten if they don’t.

Now, the Leafs return to Tampa’s Amalie Arena to battle a team that is now 16-0 following a loss in its last three postseasons. Up 3-2 in the series with two chances to dethrone the champs is an ideal spot for the Leafs, but they held a 3-2 series lead over the Boston Bruins in 2019 and led 3-1 and then 3-2 over the Montreal Canadiens in 2021. Toronto lost both those series.

The Leafs know better than to celebrate their Game 5 win for too long. This is the fifth straight postseason in which they’ve come within a victory of advancing past their opening series. The work isn’t done until they get the clincher.

“It’s a huge comeback win,” Nylander said .”I think we started a little slow but we were able to battle back. We have to keep in mind the job is far from over. So it’s nice to get the win, but it all comes down to what happens in Tampa next game.”