Maple Leafs stars explode in fearless, fight-filled Game 2 blowout

TORONTO – In those long, sobering hours that follow a 7-3 playoff humbling on home ice, like the kind the Toronto Maple Leafs suffered in Game 1, truth can replace frustration.

Fear is a dirty word in sports, particularly one where combatants push and shove, whack and slash, block and punch.

Yet two wise voices in Leafs quarters — Mark Giordano and Luke Schenn — hit the nail on the head when they argued their team could not afford to play with fear in Game 2, as close to an early must-win at home as you might find.

For Toronto’s opponent, the Tampa Bay Lightning, have, in franchise history, never lost a series when going up 2-0.

One needn’t squint to read between the lines: The Leafs played scared to lose in their series opener. Hesitant to make mistakes as opposed to eager to force their rivals into them.

Well, deer-in-the-headlights hockey turned them into venison Tuesday, and from coach Sheldon Keefe on down, the club refused to stick to the same script Thursday.

When Lightning coach Jon Cooper trotted out his best shutdown forwards — Alex Killorn, Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel — for opening puck drop, Keefe chose not to shield his own top line — Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews and Calle Järnkrok — from the challenge this time around.

Scared money don’t make no money.

The stealthy Marner picked off the Lightning’s first breakout attempt, drove net-ward and drew a tripping penalty on defenceman Ian Cole.

The Leafs’ best winger then pounded a slapper on the ensuing power play, beating Andrei Vasilevskiy on the night’s first shot on goal, and triggering the first of seven renditions of Hall ’n’ Oates.

The party was only 40 seconds old. And by the time the Maple Leafs had dismantled the three-time defending Eastern Conference champs to the tune of 7-2, a nerve-racked hockey city found itself in a more relaxed mood on 4/20.

Plenty of breath and ink will be expelled on fourth-line ice times and backup goalie readiness over the coming weeks, but ultimately the fate of these Leafs will — and should — rest with the core that general manager Kyle Dubas has been so loyal to: Marner, Matthews, John Tavares, William Nylander and Morgan Rielly.

Even the newest Leaf knows this.

“This is where they step up. In the biggest moments. In the playoffs,” said 20-year-old Matthew Knies, fresh off his playoff debut.

“This is where we need them to step up, and they all did. They’re leaders in this locker room. I look up to all those guys. They set an example for us.”

How’s this for example-setting?

The Core Five combined for 14(!) points in Game 2, half of which arrived in three first-period goals that allowed the 19,128 on hand to exhale and enjoy the rout.

Captain Tavares had scored just two 5-on-5 goals in the 23 games coming into this one, and he ripped two in Game 2 before driving the blue paint on a power play to cap off a hat trick and a giddy down-pouring of chapeaus and rally towels that delayed the next face-off for minutes.

All Rielly did was throw down his best game all season, his parents in the stands to see their son fly up in the rush and earn the primary assist on Toronto’s first four goals.

“Just the way he can impact the game with his feet and with his skating,” marvelled Tavares, a benefactor of Rielly’s drives. “Being aggressive in the offensive zone and then finding the open man.”

“I think both games mirrored each other. Wasn’t it 3-0, then a little pushback? It’s a funny game, and that’s why we love this game,” said Cooper, filling out a lineup card without Victor Hedman and Erik Cernak.

“We were on it the first night; they weren't. And it was almost the polar opposite (tonight),” said Bolts captain Steven Stamkos, sitting in a visitors’ stall, no teammates in the room.

“They played really well, and we didn't do the things that we did well in Game 1.”

Two haymakers have been exchanged, but no knockout is in sight.

Speaking of which, the Maple Leafs did not shy away from Tampa’s physicality, engaging in three fights (really) and exerting the type of longed-for pushback that works a crowd into a froth.

Leafs Nation razzed the uncommonly porous Vasilevskiy, booed villain Corey Perry, and chanted the names of their fearless passion-bearers GIIII-OOOO! and LUUUUUUKE!

When the noise finally died and the series was tied, Cooper addressed the losing team in a lengthy closed-door meeting.

“Momentum is a pendulum. And you just hope when it goes your way, you keep it rolling as long as you can. Because it can change in an instant,” Cooper said.

“At some point, it is going to change. And that’s part of our maturity — understanding it is going to change. And then: How do you get it back in your favour?”

A wildly swinging, two-blowout best-of-five series flies Friday to the Gulf of Mexico. From flurries to flip-flops, from blue to white and white to blue.

The pendulum here in the Six has swung harder than Drake’s feelings.

And with their sheer dominance in Game 2, the Maple Leafs are daring the Lightning to steal it back.

“Was there a team that was a little bit more urgent?” Cooper said, rhetorically.

“Just look at last year's series. It's the exact same — just flip it. And now we're going back to Tampa.”

Fox’s Fast 5

• The top six stole the show. But do not sleep on Toronto’s new third line. The unit of Knies, Ryan O’Reilly and Noel Acciari outshot Tampa 9-1 at even strength.

No way Keefe stacks his second line in Game 3.

“Having two veteran guys with me was a ton of help. O’Reilly stepped up and put me under his wing there and made the game a lot easier for me,” Knies said. “My first shift I was a little nervous, gripping my stick too tight.”

(P.S. Knies is 4-0 as a Maple Leaf.)

Cooper slapped away a post-game question about Keefe’s new-look centre depth posing a challenge.

“Give me Point, Cirelli and Paul all day. Against anybody in the league,” Cooper said.

• A trio of fights ratcheted the emotions in the building and on the benches: Mark Giordano vs. Zach Bogosian; Justin Holl vs. Corey Perry; and the heavyweight tilt that was Luke Schenn vs. Tanner Jeannot.

“We have big guys, yeah? Fun to watch,” said Leafs goalie Ilya Samsonov. “It’s really important for our team.”

• I’m trying very hard not to think about goaltenders of Maple Leafs past while listening to this comment by Keefe on Samsonov:

“I’m really excited about how Sammy handled himself (Wednesday). First of all, he acknowledged that he wasn't good enough. And that's one thing. But nobody wants to see a guy come in and be moping around or feeling sorry for himself or anything like that. It was the opposite for him. He was all smiles, he’s got energy, and he wanted to get working on the ice. He competed and battled on the ice. He wasn't letting anything get by him in practice. That sends a strong message to your team. That's what you're looking for.”

Samsonov admitted to nerves in Game 1. To get his mind off the loss, he stayed off his phone, watched poker all day and spent time with his baby Wednesday.

“Less nervous today,” Samsonov said.

• Fourth-liner Zach Aston-Reese — the only role guy to score for Toronto — got a taste of redemption in this one, scoring a greasy second-period goal by crashing the crease.

Aston-Reese coughed up a puck that led to Tampa’s opening strike in Game 1 and needs to pull his weight to stick in the lineup.

Low-key good game by the winger, who tied a game-high with five hits and blocked two shots.

• With Toronto leading 6-1 after 40 minutes, Cooper considered pulling Vasilevskiy for rest.

“That was quickly shut down by the goalie,” Cooper said. “That’s why he’s the best in the world. He’s not coming out. And so once again, tip your cap to that kid.”