Leafs recover to defeat Tampa, 4-3

The Maple Leafs defended home ice in Toronto Monday night and defeated the Tampa Bay Lighting, 4-3.

It wasn’t easy and it required a third period goal from James van Riemsdyk to give the Leafs the lead after they blew a 3-0 lead.

William Nylander struck for two goals in the win.

“I think we’ve been playing well. We’ve found a rhythm and this is what we want to stick to in the future,” Nylander said. “We were able to create a lot of chances and got two breakaways. I think we spent a lot of time in the offensive zone today so it was good.”

Alex Killorn, Nikita Kucherov and Yanni Gourde rallied Tampa back from the 3-0 deficit to tie it in the third period.

“They’ve got some good speed under their feet and can score goals, so we’ve got to do a better job eliminating that,” the Lightning’s  Victor Hedman said. “Other than that, I thought we controlled the pace of the game. We created a lot of chances and it could have gone either way, but obviously, those guys are two top guys in the League, so next time we play them, we have to make sure we shut them down a little bit better.”

Frederik Andersen made 31 saves in picking up the win and kept the Bolts off the board after van Riemsdyk potted the fourth goal for Toronto.

“We have to play better each night because we play a team that’s prepared for us and playing hard,” Leafs head coach Mike Babcock said. “We’ve come a long way that way, but we’re in a journey and we’ve got a long way to go. By no means are we a poised, veteran group who does it right. We still have these emotional swings in the game because we get off track. In saying all that, they’re the best team in hockey and we can skate and play with anybody.”

The Leafs improved to 34-19-5.

Austin Matthews had three assists in the win.

“It’s just another win. We expect to win every night, doesn’t matter who we play,” Matthews said. “Obviously, when you play the best team in the League, you have to bring you’re A-game, so I thought we played well tonight.”

[WATCH: All Lightning vs. Maple Leafs highlights]

Andrei Vasilevskiy made 19 saves in taking the loss as the Bolts dropped to 38-15-3.

“I thought it was anyone’s game. They came down and scored and that kind of takes the momentum away after you tie a game up like that. That obviously hurt us and we couldn’t get one at the end,” the Bolts’ Steven Stamkos said after the game.