Leafs bounce back from series-...

TORONTO — This was precisely the kind of game you needed to watch to restore your trust if you believed that this Toronto Maple Leafs squad was fundamentally different from the six it had replaced.

With four main assists, Morgan Rielly, who has appeared in 719 regular season games and 40 postseason games for this team, had his greatest performance to date. Mitch Marner scored twice, William Nylander added another, John Tavares recorded his first-ever postseason hat trick, the first playoff hat trick by a Leafs player in 20 years, Auston Matthews was the wrecking ball, largely acting as a deep-lying playmaker with two assists of his own. And this game was always going to be different from Tuesday's agonizing 7-3 setback from a tactical standpoint.

Sheldon Keefe, the head coach of the Maple Leafs, began the Matthews-Marner line on Thursday, an upgraded unit with Calle Jarnkrok on the left wing due to Michael Bunting's suspension, and it instantly paid off after being outsmarted by Lightning head coach Jon Cooper in Game 1. The Maple Leafs improved their performance after Marner, the team's MVP this season, took a tripping penalty from Tampa Bay's Ian Cole 40 seconds into the game. Before Tavares scored his first of the night, Ilya Samsonov, who had awful rebound control in Game 1, kept the door closed for a period of time.

Tavares praised Rielly after the game, saying, "I think that's the way he can impact the game with his speed and just the way he was skating."

Not only when he's finding players and creating plays. Even his shot was one of these. The forwards have it so much simpler just by applying pressure outside of the defensive zone, attacking the center of the ice, gaining zones, and influencing the game that way. Just his overall effect and how he makes use of his speed to be difficult to contain, whether it be on breakouts, through the neutral zone and attacking middle ice, or being proactive in the offensive zone and finding the open guy, like he did tonight. It was only an international performance.

The Maple Leafs were unable to go back. Tavares and Rielly played their best playoff games as Maple Leafs in a game that had to be won because the outcome of the series would determine the success or failure of the team for the next six seasons. Marner scored twice in the first period to seal the victory, and Nylander wired in another goal. Matthews also played quite well.

It's a best-of-five series between an ascending force and a wounded juggernaut still capable of defeating any team on any given night because Toronto's greatest players improved their performances when the club most needed them.