In Tampa, Auston Matthews hit for a hat trick on Monday night and the Toronto Maple Leafs thumped the Lightning, 6-2.
The loss allowed the Boston Bruins jump into the third spot in the Atlantic Division, ahead of the Bolts, Boston defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets in OT, on Monday.
Matthews now has 54 goals on the season, he tied Rick Vaive for most in a single season for the Leafs.
“It’s humbling, it means a lot, just to be in the same sentence as a guy like Rick Vaive and these other guys that have come before us,” Matthews said. “They have just kind of represented what it means to be a Toronto Maple Leaf. It means a lot and it’s extremely humbling.”
Jack Campbell made 32 saves in the Maple Leafs win.
“It’s a big win for our team, we’re in a battle for the standings,” Campbell said. “They’re a great team, so it’s definitely nice to come in here and get two points. Now it’s on to the next one (at the Florida Panthers on Tuesday).”
Nikita Kucherov and Jan Rutta were the Lightning strikers.
“We didn’t manage our game; we were way, way too easy to play against tonight,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “It was like a light practice for them. It’s too bad. I thought we kind of turned a corner a bit, but clearly we haven’t.”
Alexander Kerfoot also scored for the Maple Leafs.
“This is a big game for us, obviously,” Matthews said. “They’re a really good team, they know how to win, so it was an important game for us this point of the season. All these points count and really matter. I think it’s just a really complete game by everybody.”
Tampa dropped to 43-29-7.
“It comes down to work ethic right now,” Tampa Bay’s Pat Maroon said. “Put the systems aside and go out and compete and have fun again. It seems like we’re not having fun right now. We’re overthinking it, maybe guys haven’t gotten a point or scored in a while, just gripping the stick instead of keeping it simple right now.”
It just went from bad to worse for Tampa, Pierre Engvall scored to give the Leafs a 1-0 lead in the first period on their first shot of the game.
Matthews finished his hat trick in the eighth minute of the third period for a 5-2 lead to Toronto.
“Can’t give a guy like him time and space the way we did,” Cooper said. “You’re leaving a 50-plus goal scorer all alone at the net and he’s walking right down Broadway and nobody is touching him. That’s on us.”
Mitchell Marner added a late marker for the 6-2 final.
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 33 saves in the Tampa loss.
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