Leafs gush over Campbell's stop on Stamkos: 'A game-saving save'

Jack Campbell was the hero in Game 3.

The Toronto Maple Leafs netminder turned in a sensational performance Friday night, stopping 32 of 34 shots to help his team to a 5-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning.

One stop in particular deserved a big star next to it, though.

Late in the third period with Tampa Bay on the power play and trailing by one, Nikita Kucherov feathered a cross-seam pass to Steven Stamkos, who unleashed his patented one-timer from the opposite faceoff circle. It's a play the Lightning duo have pulled off numerous times, but Campbell miraculously pushed across his crease to make the save and keep the Leafs ahead.

"That's a game-saving save," Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters postgame.

He added: "There was a bit of a sense on the bench that it's going in. Stamkos doesn't miss those very much when it comes through like that. Jack is well aware that's a legitimate threat and he's conscious of it. One of the great things about Jack is he never gives up on a puck."

Even Stamkos himself had to tip his cap.

"I got everything (on that) and then some," the Lightning captain said, per The Athletic's Joe Smith. "It was a great save."

Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews thinks the biggest key to Campbell's success is simple: have fun.

"He gives us confidence every time he's out there," Matthews said. "He's talkative, he chats out there, he has a lot of fun out there and I think that's the most important part for him. When he's playing really well, he's having a lot of fun out there. You could see that in his play tonight. He had some really big saves tonight but I don't think any bigger than that one at the end of the third."

Campbell now owns a .924 save percentage in the series and a lifetime .931 mark in 10 career playoff games.

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