Maple Leafs overcome three-goal deficit in shootout win vs. Lightning

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Game Information

Arena: St. Pete Times Forum Location: Tampa, Florida

Referees: Greg Kimmerly, Don Koharski Linesmen: Mike Cvik, Don Henderson

Attendance: 18,793 (95.1% full)

Team Stat Comparison
244	Goals	207
286	Goals Against	269
62	Power Play Goals	61
78	Power Play Goals Allowed	89
6	Shorthanded Goals	4
7	Shorthanded Goals Allowed	9
1125	Penalty Minutes	1306
14	Average Penalty Minutes	16

Scoring Summary
1ST PERIOD			TOR	TAM
13:39		Vincent Lecavalier (Power Play) Assists: Cory Murphy, Martin St. Louis	0	1
2ND PERIOD			TOR	TAM
2:26		Steven Stamkos (Power Play) Assists: Martin St. Louis, Karri Ramo	0	2
2:36		Matt Pettinger Assists: Martins Karsums, Lukas Krajicek	0	3
19:36		John Mitchell Assists: Jason Blake, Anton Stralman	1	3
3RD PERIOD			TOR	TAM
3:24		Jason Blake Assists: Lee Stempniak	2	3
14:29		Jeff Hamilton Assists: Boyd Devereaux, Matt Stajan	3	3
OT			TOR	TAM
No scoring this period			3	3
Shootout Summary
	Steven Stamkos shootout attempt against Curtis Joseph with a Hit Goalpost results in a MISS.
	Jeff Hamilton shootout attempt against Karri Ramo with a Backhand results in a GOAL.
	Martin St. Louis shootout attempt against Curtis Joseph with a Hit Goalpost results in a MISS.
	Lee Stempniak shootout attempt against Karri Ramo with a Wide of Net results in a MISS.
	Vincent Lecavalier shootout attempt against Curtis Joseph with a Wristshot results in a GOAL.
	Jason Blake shootout attempt against Karri Ramo with a Wide of Net results in a MISS.
	Ryan Malone shootout attempt against Curtis Joseph with a Wristshot results in a SAVE.
	Mikhail Grabovski shootout attempt against Karri Ramo with a Wristshot results in a SAVE.
	Vaclav Prospal shootout attempt against Curtis Joseph with a Wristshot results in a SAVE.
	Nikolai Kulemin shootout attempt against Karri Ramo with a Hit Goalpost results in a MISS.
	Evgeny Artyukhin shootout attempt against Curtis Joseph with a Wristshot results in a SAVE.
	John Mitchell shootout attempt against Karri Ramo with a Wristshot results in a GOAL.

TAMPA, Fla. -- The Toronto Maple Leafs had some help on the road.

Fast Facts

• The Maple Leafs ended a four-game winless streak vs. the Lightning.

• Nine of Toronto's last 14 games have gone to overtime (three shootout wins, three overtime wins, two shootout losses, one overtime loss).

• Tampa Bay has played in 19 overtime/shootout games this season, with four wins and 15 losses.

-- ESPN research

Down by a goal in the third period, the Maple Leafs, in front of a supportive crowd of mostly Toronto fans and Canadian tourists, forced overtime with six minutes left in regulation, and John Mitchell netted the winner in the shootout for the 4-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night.

Mitchell, who scored the Maple Leafs' first goal in the second period, netted his first shootout goal of his career and the Maple Leafs avoided a four-game season-series sweep by the Lightning. Tampa Bay outscored the Maple Leafs 16-10 this season and had won six straight against them.

"Usually, I kind of deke," Mitchell said of his shootout goal, "so that time I told myself, 'You know what? I'm going to try shooting and see how it goes that way.' And It worked out."

Mitchell's deciding goal was scored in the sixth round of the shootout after Toronto trailed 3-0 in the second period.

"That was a great game," Maple Leafs defenseman Ian White said. "I know we never said die and kept battling, kept shooting pucks and then completely dominated that third period."

Jeff Hamilton, who tied it at 3, scored the first shootout goal. Vincent Lecavalier scored the Lightning's only shootout goal on a deke past Curtis Joseph to force the extra rounds.

Mitchell won it with a low shot past the right skate of goalie Karri Ramo.

The Lightning went ahead 3-0 on a power-play tally by Lecavalier, who has a team-high 29 goals.

Steve Stamkos and Matt Pettinger added a pair of goals only 10 seconds apart, matching the Lightning's second fastest two goals at home.

"We go up 3-0 and lose the game," said Stamkos, the No. 1 overall pick in last year's draft. "That's totally unacceptable. We can't afford to do that. They got the two points, and we were able to salvage one, if you want to look at that as a positive."

Jason Blake scored the second goal for the Maple Leafs four minutes into the third. Each time Toronto scored, the arena was filled with chants of "Go Leafs Go!"

"That was unbelievable. It was actually sometimes louder than it is at the [Air Canada Centre]," Toronto coach Ron Wilson said, referring to the Maple Leafs' home arena.

"A Tuesday night in Tampa [and] it seems like we had the home fans for the majority, which gave us a little extra boost," White said.

This was the second straight game decided by a shootout for the Lightning. Tampa Bay beat the Florida Panthers 4-3 on Saturday.

Ramo, who had 36 saves, stopped Lee Stempniak, Mikhail Grabovski, Blake and Nikolai Kulemin in the shootout. Joseph, who had 19 saves, stopped Stamkos, Martin St. Louis, Ryan Malone, Vaclav Prospal and Evgeny Artyukhin in the tiebreaker.

In just his eighth start, the 41-year-old Joseph has come through recently and his efforts have been noticed.

"He was going through a lot of issues at the start of the year," White said. "Give him credit for just putting his game face on all the time and then always coming to work hard."

Game notes
Toronto has played an NHL-high 22 overtime games. The Lightning have been in 19. ... Tampa Bay has lost four straight and seven of eight home games. ... There was a pregame moment of silence held for former Lightning and Detroit Pistons owner William Davidson, who died on March 13. Williams owned the Lightning from 1999 to 2008. ... Lightning defenseman Cory Murphy sustained a lower body injury and missed the third period. ... Lightning defenseman Marek Malik sat out his seventh straight game due to an undisclosed lower body injury. ... Maple Leafs defenseman Tomas Kaberle was scratched for a seventh consecutive game because of a hand injury. ... Tampa Bay recalled defenseman Matt Lashoff from AHL Norfolk and he made his NHL debut.