A slow start and some coverage mistakes put the Tampa Bay Lightning behind early, and despite several attempts, they couldn’t equalize the game and dropped a 5-3 decision to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Jonas Johansson, in an unexpected start, stopped 23 of 27 shots, several of the difficult variety. Nick Paul scored twice while Darren Raddysh had a goal and an assist. Matthew Knies starred for the home team as he had two goals and an assist while Joseph Woll stopped 27 shots.
Was it the start that the Lightning wanted? Probably not as Jonas Johansson was tested just minutes into the game on a tough shot from Auston Matthews from the slot. He made the save on that attempt, as well as the follow up from Matthew Knies, setting a trend that would continue for most of the night.
Toronto was very active in the neutral zone, not allowing the Lightning a lot of space and causing havoc on their attempted entries. When Tampa Bay did manage to make it into the zone the Maple Leafs were able to come up with the puck along the boards, and once they did, their forwards flew the zone. The strategy paid off in the game-opening goal as the Lightning turned if over down low and Oliver Ekman-Larsson passed to Matthew Knies in the neutral zone.
Max Crozier was there, but didn’t prevent Knies from passing the puck to a streaking Auston Matthews, who blew past Ryan McDonagh, and then beat Johansson cleanly.
Auston Matthews (Matthew Knies, Oliver Ekman-Larsson) 1-0 Maple Leafs
It wouldn’t be long till Johansson was tested once again. Victor Hedman’s shot was blocked up front and that allowed Bobby McMann to break in alone, but the Lightning goaltender was able to make the pad save and keep the game at 1-0.
The Lightning were struggling with the speed of Toronto for most of the period, but were still able to generate a few chances. The best came from Nick Paul, who was able to split the defense off of a feed from Brandon Hagel. His shot was saved by Joseph Woll, as was Zemgus Girgensons’ attempt late in the period.
Making adjustments between periods has been something the Lightning have been able to do over the last few games. After playing on their heels in the first period, they had a little more push in the second period, with Victor Hedman and Kucherov forcing Woll to make difficult saves early in the frame.
Tampa Bay carried the play for the majority of the period, but Toronto has some special players on their team, and if you give them an inch, they will outskate you by a mile. With about six minutes to go in the period, Kucherov turned the puck over at the Toronto blue line, and with both Lightning defenders near him, there was no one back to prevent William Nylander’s one-on-one rush with Johansson. Unlike McMann in the first, the man they call Willy Styles didn’t miss.
William Nylander (Morgan Reilly, Steven Lorentz) 2-0 Maple Leafs
That’s the type of goal, one that goes against the run of play, that can deflate a team. However, the Lightning don’t get rattled to easily, and they kept at their attack. After having 16 shots swatted aside by Woll through the game at that point, a seemingly innocent shot from Darren Raddysh was deflected by Nick Paul and beat Woll on the short-side.
Nick Paul (Darren Raddysh, Brayden Point) 2-1 Maple Leafs
While the second goal didn’t deflate the sails of the Lightning, Toronto delivered another body shot with 30 seconds left in the period. Knies pulled the puck around Conor Geekie to open a little of space for an entry. It looked like Ryan McDonagh had the play shut off as he forced Matthews into a crowd, but the puck ended with Mitch Marner, who threaded a pass through a mass of legs and sticks to Knies, who had a step on Raddysh, and was able to beat Johansson.
Matthew Knies (Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews) 3-1 Maple Leafs
With an early power play (the first of the night for either team) the Lightning had a chance to trim the deficit back to just one goal, but Woll was able to turn aside the one solid chance the Lightning had, a big shot from Kucherov. Following the power play, the Leafs had a strong shift in the Lightning zone, but gained nothing but a few minutes off of the clock.
While they weren’t able to find the net on the power play, a face-off win in the Toronto zone set the Lightning up for their second goal. Point won the draw and Kucherov worked it over to Hedman. The Big Swede fed it to his defensive partner, and Raddysh beat Woll with a quick, hard shot (no deflection on this one).
Darren Raddysh (Victor Hedman, Nikita Kucherov) 3-2 Maple Leafs
Much like the last time the Lightning trimmed the lead, Toronto responded. This time they used their power play, and it was Matthew Knies again. Johansson made the initial stop on a shot from Marner, but Knies was left alone in front, and was able to tuck a rebound home before Nick Perbix could get a body on him.
Matthew Knies (Match Marner, Bobby McMann) Power Play, 4-2 Maple Leafs
The metaphorical trading of punches continued as the Lightning responded with a power play goal of their own. Who else but Nick Paul? Stationed at the far post, he redirected a shot-pass from Brandon Hagel for his second goal of the game.
Nick Paul (Brandon Hagel, Victor Hedman) Power Play, 4-3 Maple Leafs
All sports are games of inches it seems, but twice the Lightning came within an inch or so from tying it. Shortly after Paul tied it up, Victor Hedman was open on the back post, but the pass across was elevated just an inch too high and went over his stick. Minutes later Brayden Point was his usual shifty self and beat Woll with a backhander. The puck hit the underside of the crossbar and dropped straight down in front of the goal line. It lingered for a second before the Maple Leafs were able to clear it from danger.
With 2:25 left, Coach Cooper gambled and pulled Johansson from the net. There was some pressure, but Toronto eventually sealed the game when Mitch Marner was able to find the empty net.
Mitch Marner (unassisted) Empty Net, 5-3 Maple Leafs
(No video for empty net goals against)
The Lightning will have to put this behind them and regroup quickly. They face a young and talented Montreal Canadiens team tomorrow night.
