In Tampa Thursday night, the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs upended the Lightning, 4-2.
The Leafs got goals from Nazem Kadri, Patrick Marleau and Zach Hyman.
“This is going to be one of those games where it swings you in the right direction and brings momentum back on your side,” Kadri said. “I am proud of our group.”
Frederik Andersen returned to form in win over Lightning – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
Mitchell Marner scored in his fourth straight game for Toronto.
“I thought our team played well,” Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. “I thought we could have had a lot more but their goaltender played well too. But it was a good game for our team.”
Frederik Andersen sharpened his game in his second contest since returning from injury; he made 36 saves one game after being pulled for a soft start.
“I’m really happy with the way we responded,” Andersen said. “I think everyone’s a little embarrassed at the effort we put in last game (a 6-3 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Monday). We came out and worked hard at eliminating their time and space tonight.”
The Lightning got goals form Victor Hedman and Brayden Point.
“Good game between two good teams,” Hedman said. “We’re obviously not happy with the result but they played a good game and we played a good game. We had some good looks in the third but they didn’t go in.”
Tampa dropped to 36-10-2.
“They’re a team that’s kind of built like us,” Point said. “They want to take away our space so it’s up to us to find ways to get it in. We had flashes of that but they’re a good team.”
The Maple Leafs improved to 29-15-2 and showed good consistent play throughout the game and found some lost swagger in defeating the NHL’s best club.
[WATCH: All Maple Leafs vs. Lightning highlights]
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 27 saves in the loss.
“We played well enough to win the game,” Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. “The third goal was tough because we turned the puck over a couple of times and what seemed to be a simple retrieval ended up in the back of our net. We had our chances though. They had their chances. They just got one more than us.”
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