TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS at TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING
Tuesday, 7 p.m., Amalie Arena
TV: Sportsnet Ontario; RADIO: 1050 AM
THE BIG MATCHUP
C Auston Matthews vs. G Andrei Vasilevskiy
The Maple Leafs can’t score fast enough in this game to erase the memory of being blanked by David Ayres in the third period on Saturday. Vasilevskiy is not easy to beat as the Leafs well know, yet who better to get things sorted than Matthews, Toronto’s leading scorer, who has just one goal in his past four games getting to 43.
FIVE KEYS TO THE GAME
Confidence counts
The entire Leafs team needs to get with the program, though looking back, they played four excellent periods up to the opening frame against Carolina. As Mitch Marner alluded to in colourful language, it’s tough to think of a worse finish by himself and the rest than the way they tripped over themselves against the Canes.
Making Bolt moves
Tampa Bay GM Julien BriseBois met the media after Monday’s deadline and revealed he had pursued both forwards Blake Coleman and Barclay Goodrow as ideal fits for his team, completing the sweep by getting the latter from San Jose with a half hour to spare. “I look at our team and we’ll be a harder team to take out in spring time.” BriseBois also added defenceman Zach Bogosian from the Sabres, who could thrive in his new environment. This game starts a season-long five-game home stand for them.
What’s up, Freddy?
Just when you thought Frederik Andersen was on the rebound, he was a culprit on Saturday. Toronto’s inattentive ways on defence continue to give him as much trouble as the opposition, but after head coach Sheldon Keefe declared Andersen “our guy,” it would be confusing to go back to Jack Campbell on this road trip with Florida up next and the season possibly in the balance.
One-time only
Steven Stamkos has 20 goals against Toronto and 48 points in 40 games overall. The Leafs know exactly where he’ll be on the power play with his quick snap delivery and Tampa Bay’s unit is just as potent as the Leafs. Nikita Kucherov and Victor Hedman are at 20-plus points on special teams to Stamkos’s 19.
That’s a plus
Don’t tell the Lightning that plus/minus doesn’t matter. They have three in the top 10 of the league, Brayden Point at positive 28, Anthony Cirelli at 27 and Kucherov at 26.
LEAFS GAME DAY LINES
LW C RW
Zach Hyman Auston Matthews Mitch Marner
William Nylander John Tavares Denis Malgin
Pierre Engvall Alex Kerfoot Kasperi Kapanen
Kyle Clifford Jason Spezza Frederik Gauthier
DEFENCE PAIRINGS
Jake Muzzin Justin Holl
Travis Dermott Tyson Barrie
Rasmus Sandin Timothy Liljegren
GOALIES
Frederik Andersen
Jack Campbell
SICK BAY
D Morgan Rielly (foot)
D Cody Ceci (ankle)
LW Andreas Johnsson (knee)
RW/LW Ilya Mikheyev (wrist)
LIGHTNING GAME DAY LINES
LW C RW
Steven Stamkos Brayden Point Nikita Kucherov
Blake Coleman Anthony Cirelli Alex Killorn
Ondrej Palat Tyler Johnson Yanni Gourde
Mitchell Stephens Barclay Goodrow Carter Verhaeghe
DEFENCE PAIRINGS
Victor Hedman Erik Cernak
Mikhail Sergachev Kevin Shattenkirk
Braydon Coburn L. Schenn/Z. Bogosian
GOALTENDERS
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Curtis McElhinney
SICK BAY
D Ryan McDonagh (lower body)
D Jan Rutta (lower body)
D Eric Cernak (leg)
SPECIAL TEAMS
POWER PLAY
Toronto 23.8% (3rd)
Tampa Bay 23.7% (4th)
PENALTY KILLING
Toronto 76.1% (26th)
Tampa Bay 82.6% (7th)
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