Mitch Marner had arguably his best opening minute of hockey in his NHL career by intercepting a pass that drew a penalty and taking advantage of it seven seconds later, helping the Toronto Maple Leafs tie their best-of-seven with the Tampa Bay Lightning at 1-1.

The Toronto Maple Leafs needed a hot start after an abysmal beginning in Game 1. What they ended up with was perhaps got the best opening minute of Mitch Marner's NHL career.

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Forty seconds into Game 2 in their first-round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Marner intercepted a defensive-zone pass from Alex Killorn. That forced Ian Cole to trip Marner which set up the club's first power play of the game. 

Seven seconds later, Marner beat Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy for a tone-setting 1-0 lead.

"Really from that point forward we were just trying to dictate the pace and make plays when we could," Marner said following the Leafs' 7-2 win against the Lightning on Thursday.

With one goal, the crowd erupted at Scotiabank Arena. Gone was the pressure that Toronto felt in the aftermath of their series-opening 7-3 loss on Tuesday and in came a new reality. Tampa's defense was severely depleted without top defensemen Victor Hedman and Erik Cernak) and the Maple Leafs feasted on the remains.

Marner ended the night with a pair of goals and an assist.

John Tavares recorded the first Maple Leafs playoff hat trick since Alex Mogilny in 2003. His first goal game midway through the period gave Toronto a 2-0 lead. Uncharacteristic of the captain, Tavares was expressive in his celebration.

 "It was the emotion of the playoffs and a hell of a play by Mo (Morgan Rielly)," Tavares explained. "(It's) always great to capitalize and extend our lead and continue to build momentum off a good start."

Rielly assisted on Toronto's first four goals of the game. His four-point night put him in the record books tying for the franchise's best for points in a game by a Maple Leafs defenseman.

William Nylander and Zach Aston-Reese also had goals for Toronto as the Maple Leafs star players overtook and overwhelmed the Lightning who pulled this act in Game 1.

Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe admitted that it took his team a little bit of time to get over Tampa's dominating performance on Tuesday. If the club has a write a script on how to play with the exact level of effort and response to Tampa's opening salvo, this was it.

Tampa took a 3-0 lead after one period in Game 1. Toronto took a 3-0 lead after one period in Game 2.

Maple Leafs goaltender Ilya Samsonov allowed six goals on 29 shots through two periods of Game 1. Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy allowed six goals on 29 shots through two periods of Game 2. 

Aston-Reese had a costly turnover early in Game 1. He scores a goal that essentially put the Lightning away for good in Game 2.

Toronto got into penalty trouble in Game 1, Tampa got into penalty trouble in Game 2.

The Scotiabank Arena crowd booed at the end of the first and second periods and were barely around for Game 1. The Scotiabank Arena crowd gave the team a standing ovation at the end of the first and second periods and heckled the Lightning players so much to the point they got under the club's skin.

You get the idea. It was the perfect response game for the Maple Leafs after what seemed like a disaster 48 hours ago.

"We’re happy with how we played," Marner said. "Enjoy it right now, but clear slate tomorrow, be ready to go for Game 3."

Samsonov returned to form by making 20 saves on 22 shots. Although not tested often, the win was important for re-establishing the goaltender's shaky performance in Game 1. The 26-year-old admitted he was a little nervous playing in his first playoff game as a Leaf on Tuesday. 

"It was big change for me, so different from where I played," Samsonov explained. "Less nervous today, everybody says just relax and just enjoy this time."

Matthew Knies played in his first NHL playoff game and showed little sign of nerves, winning puck battles and making few mistakes. He was in the lineup after Michael Bunting was suspended for three games for his illegal check to the head of Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak, Knies skated with veteran forward Ryan O'Reilly and Noel Acciari on the third line.

Knies finished with the second-best expected goals-for percentage on the Leafs at even strength (85 percent) and he did it while tying for the team lead in hits with five.

It was about as perfect a response as Toronto could have expected, Keefe did point out that Toronto was outshot shot much of the first period after Marner's goal. He also cautioned that while the Lightning were without their best two players, he expects players will eventually return and the games will get tougher.

Never did a Game 2 feel like such a must-win for Toronto. Is it likely we'll see seven goals scored by one of these teams every night? Probably not. But this is very much a series now with momentum on Toronto's side.

The Maple Leafs and Lightning are tied 1-1 in their best-of-seven series with Game 3 set to take place at Amalie Arena in Tampa on Saturday.

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