The road trip opens in Toronto: Lightning Have Big Opportunity Against Maple Leafs

Tampa Bay starts a four-game trip on Monday night against the Leafs

Lines from Saturday's Game (subject to change)
Forwards
Jake Guentzel - Brayden Point - Nikita Kucherov
Brandon Hagel - Anthony Cirelli - Nick Paul
Zemgus Girtensons - Conor Geekie - Mitchell Chaffee
Mikey Eyssimont - Luke Glendening - Cam Atkinson

Defensemen
Victor Hedman - Darren Raddysh
Ryan McDonagh - Max Crozier
Emil Lilleberg - Nick Perbix

Goaltenders
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Jonas Johansson

Monday's Matchup
Tampa Bay will look for their first win against the Toronto Maple Leafs this season when they head to Canada for Monday’s game at Scotiabank Arena...Toronto won a 5-2 game on Oct. 21 and also took the rematch 5-3 at AMALIE Arena on Nov. 30...Victor Hedman leads the Lightning with four points, all assists, in the two games against Toronto...Tampa Bay is 47-54-12 all-time against the Maple Leafs, including 23-27-1 on the road...Tampa Bay is 6-7-3 since 2019-20 against Toronto...Steven Stamkos is the franchise’s all-time leading scorer against the Maple Leafs with 23-4—66 in 52 career games...Nikita Kucherov leads active Bolts with 19-26—45 in 36 games against Toronto...Victor Hedman has 7-25—32 in 49 games against Toronto...Kucherov led the Lightning with 5-7—12 in four games against Toronto last season...Brayden Point (3-3—6) and Brandon Hagel (2-4—6) each had six points...Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy is 15-12-2 with a .916 save percentage in 29 career starts against Toronto.

Tampa Bay Sports Item of the Game
2025 Gasparilla Collection
There's still time to gear up for the incoming pirate invasion, so check out the full Gasparilla-inspired collection, in store at Amalie Arena and online at TampaBaySports.com.

The Road Ahead
Tuesday, January 21 at Montreal Canadiens
Friday, January 24 at Chicago Blackhawks
Saturday, January 25 at Detroit Red Wings

Lightning Have Big Opportunity Against Maple Leafs

The Lightning have a golden opportunity in their contest against the Maple Leafs.

The Tampa Bay Lightning return to the ice tomorrow night to play the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Lightning will look to stay hot after winning each of their last two games. This includes an impressive 5-1 win against the Detroit Red Wings on Jan. 18. 

It is always entertaining when the Lightning and Maple Leafs face each other, as they are both very good hockey clubs. In addition, they have developed a heated rivalry over the years.

This game is also important for the Lightning, as it offers them a big opportunity. At this point of the season, the Lightning are seven points behind the Maple Leafs for the first-place spot in the Atlantic Division standings.

A win in regulation would be significant for the Lightning, as they would only be five points behind the Leafs while having three games in hand. However, a loss in regulation would undoubtedly hurt the Lightning, as they would be nine points behind Toronto in the standings. 

The Eastern Conference is tight right now, so the Lightning need as many points as possible. The Ottawa Senators only trail the Lightning by one point, while the Boston Bruins are behind by three. Therefore, a win against the Leafs would create more much-needed breathing room for the Lightning.

We will now need to wait and see if the Lightning can beat the Maple Leafs from here.