Lightning 5, Maple Leafs 3
Steven Stamkos registered his seventh career hat trick in his seventh game since returning to the lineup from a broken leg to spark visiting Tampa Bay to its fourth consecutive win.
Defenseman Radko Gudas scored in the opening minute while rookie Tyler Johnson notched a big insurance tally and added an assist as the Lightning pulled into a tie with Montreal (with a game in hand) for second place in the Atlantic Division, three points ahead of Toronto. Valtteri Filppula and Ryan Malone each collected a pair of assists and Ben Bishop turned aside 36 shots to win his fourth straight start as Tampa Bay handed the Maple Leafs their fourth defeat in five games.
Phil Kessel and Nikolai Kulemin netted first-period goals and defenseman Jake Gardiner also tallied for Toronto, which saw blue-liner Paul Ranger taken off the ice on a stretcher after he was checked head-first into the boards by Alex Killorn in the waning seconds of the first period. The Maple Leafs said Ranger was stable, conscious and alert after being hospitalized for precautionary reasons.
After Kulemin's redirect midway through the opening period put Toronto ahead 2-1, Stamkos took over by burying a perfect feed from Filppula at the bottom of the right faceoff circle during a power play before converting in front with 4:21 left in the opening session. Stamkos completed the natural hat trick at 5:55 of the middle session, sweeping home a rebound for a 4-2 advantage.
Gardiner scored his fifth goal in seven games to pull Toronto within one at the 8:20 mark of the third, but Johnson countered while on the power play 4 1/2 minutes later to restore the two-goal cushion. It was Johnson's 22nd tally, one shy of Stamkos' franchise rookie record.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Ranger was injured as he skated to retrieve a puck along the end boards, but he spun right into a trailing Killorn, who drove his head hard into the glass. Killorn drew a five-minute major and game misconduct as officials ended the period with 4.1 seconds to play while Ranger was attended to before he was stretchered off the ice wearing a neck brace. ... Stamkos' second hat trick of the season gave him 13 goals in 20 career games against Toronto. He became the first player with a natural hat trick against the Maple Leafs since Buffalo's Thomas Vanek accomplished the feat on Feb. 4, 2009. ... Kessel ended a season high-tying four-game point streak while Filppula ran his point streak to six games.