In Tampa, John Tavares struck for two goals and the Toronto Maple Leafs edged out the Lightning on Tuesday night, 4-3.
“We’ve scored a lot of goals all year, I’m not too concerned about us finding ways to put the puck in the net,” Tavares said. “We just have to play to our capabilities and have that consistency.”
William Nylander had a goal for the Maple Leafs – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
Frederik Andersen made 26 saves in the win.
Nikita Kucherov, Pat Maroon and Yanni Gourde scored for the Lightning who traded goals with the Leafs most of the night.
“The energy felt a bit low overall,” Gourde said. “We had that energy in the third period and we were making plays and getting the puck in the zone. That’s what we do well. Every single shift we needed to do that.”
Jake Muzzin and William Nylander had single markers for the Maple Leafs.
“I think the circumstances are obvious, not much more needs to be said (playing the Florida Panthers next). Tavares said after the game. “Each game only gets more important, and certainly with where things are, it’s a big game.”
[WATCH:Â All Maple Leafs vs. Lightning highlights]
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 19 saves in the loss.
“We didn’t play poorly 5-on-5, we didn’t give them anything,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “It was a total special-teams game. When you lose a hockey game and the losing team’s players are plus and the [winning] team’s players are all minuses, you know what decided that game.”
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