TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Lightning are heading to Canada for the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. A Boston Bruins loss Friday evening — coincidentally in Toronto — helped punch the ticket for the Bolts to face the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Lightning enter the playoffs as the No. 5 seed, meaning Game 1 will be on the road.
If the Bolts get past the Maple Leafs, then the back-to-back Stanley Cup champs will face the winner of the Florida vs. Washington series in the second round.
Here's a breakdown of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs First Round schedule for the Bolts:
- Game 1 – Lightning at Maple Leafs on Monday, May 2 (Scotiabank Arena) 7:30 p.m.
- Game 2 - Lightning at Maple Leafs on Wednesday, May 4 (Scotiabank Arena) 7:30 p.m.
- Game 3 – Maple Leafs at Lightning on Friday, May 6 (AMALIE Arena) 7:30 p.m.
- Game 4 – Maple Leafs at Lightning on Sunday, May 8 (AMALIE Arena) 7 p.m.
- Game 5 – Lightning at Maple Leafs on Tuesday, May 10 (Scotiabank Arena) if necessary
- Game 6 – Maple Leafs at Lightning on Thursday, May 12 (AMALIE Arena) if necessary
- Game 7 – Lightning at Maple Leafs on Saturday, May 14 (Scotiabank Arena) if necessary
All times listed above are subject to change.
Tampa Bay and Toronto are playing each other in the postseason for the first time ever. The Bolts finished the season right under the Maple Leafs, sitting in third behind Toronto in second, in the Eastern Conference. In the past five seasons the Maple Leafs have been eliminated in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, CBS Sports reports.
And the Bolts are chasing history this time around. If the Lightning were to win a third straight Stanley Cup title, they'd be the first team to do so since the New York Islanders in 1982. The Toronto Maple Leafs (1947-49), Montreal Canadiens (1956-60, 1976-79) and New York Islands have clinched three consecutive Stanley Cup championships.
Both Bolts and Maple Leafs had a player reach a 100-point season. Steven Stamkos finished the regular season with 101 points. The Maple Leafs will have to double down on Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov—the duo fueled Tampa Bay's winning streak toward the end of the regular season.
Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews finished the regular season with 106 points and made team history with the most goals in a single season. While he did not suit up for Friday's regular-season finale against the Bruins, let's not count the star center out for Game 1 of the first round of playoffs.
In addition, to Matthews, Maple Leafs guard Jack Campbell did not play in the team's final regular-season game.
Lightning defenceman Jan Rutta suffered an upper-body injury. The team says his recovery is day-to-day.
