NHL Playoffs: Lightning punch ...

ATLANTA — It's common to compare playoff hockey to a prize fight, recalling the heyday of boxing when a heavyweight match would be the main event on the North American athletic calendar. In this case, a battle between the emerging, unbelievably skilled, but unpredictable Toronto Maple Leafs and the three-time Eastern Conference champion Tampa Bay Lightning would be appropriate.

With all due respect to the other NHL playoff games, which were played simultaneously with the NFL Draft's first round, Toronto was the center of the sports universe, with a raucous crowd hoping to see their native Maple Leafs make it past the first round for the first time since 2004.

By beating Toronto 4-2 in Game 5, Tampa Bay avoided going home, setting up a rematch at Amalie Arena on Saturday. Over the past four years, the Lightning's renowned resiliency has been on display countless times, but Anthony Cirelli's goal 26 seconds after Toronto's Morgan Rielly nearly brought the house down may be the best example. With the help of two outstanding individual performances from captain John Tavares and 20-year-old rookie sensation Matthew Knies, Rielly was playing the greatest hockey of his Maple Leafs career. With 19,663 Maple Leafs supporters present and millions more across the country hoping for a cathartic moment that has escaped them for twenty years, a weaker squad would have buckled under the pressure.

Ilya Samsonov played admirably for the Maple Leafs throughout the whole game, but Michael Eyssimont beat him from an outrageous angle to give the Lightning a 2-1 lead in the second period that they would not give up. Nobody says that all of your punches have to look good; they just need to connect. In this instance, a quick jab from Essyimont was sufficient to extinguish the building's life.

It's important to note that Eyssimont dismantled Justin Holl, a Maple Leafs defenseman, to open up a clear shooting lane. Holl has now been directly involved in 14 goals across all situations, and although Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe acknowledged that Holl played poorly, he added that the barrage of goals that have happened when he plays wasn't the result of Holl acting alone.

The game-winning goal was scored by Nick Paul, who has a history of knocking the Maple Leafs out, hitting two monstrous goals in Game 7 of the first-round series last year. Paul scored the 3-1 goal after Zach Aston-Reese of the Maple Leafs kicked a speculative feed from Lightning forward Ross Colton onto his stick. Paul had two chances to shoot the ball past Samsonov.

With 3:33 left, Auston Matthews scored, temporarily giving the tense Scotiabank Arena some much-needed energy. With 3:03 left, Vasilevskiy closed the door as Toronto withdrew Samsonov once again, and with five seconds left in the game, Alex Killorn scored an empty-net goal. It was too little, too late from Toronto's superstar.

You feel sick to your stomach if you're a Maple Leafs supporter. If you're a fan of the Lightning, this game epitomizes the unwavering will of a victor. And if you're an impartial viewer, this is the epitome of a sporting event; you don't want it to end until the 15th round, when the rightful winner will eventually stand up and deliver one last, decisive blow. Cooper stated after the game, "Let's be honest: This game's so darn enjoyable.

"You have two teams engaged in combat. There are several storylines. Stars can be seen here. You people would have been furious if this had ended tonight, for realz. Come back together for Game 7 please.