Leafs face tough task against Lightning
Bolts coming off a 5-0 demolition of Columbus
When the Toronto Maple Leafs calculated which Eastern teams who missed the playoffs last season posed the biggest threat this season, the Tampa Bay Lightning had to top the list.
Indeed, with its offence back in gear — six snipers now in double figures and a goal differential of 51 — they’re legit Stanley Cup threats again after an unforeseen hiatus last spring. The Leafs meet the East Conference leaders for the first time on Tuesday, two days after being outhustled, outmuscled and outscored in a 6- 3 loss to the expansionist Vegas Golden Knights Sunday in Sin City.
It was a game in which the Leafs’ shaky defence was “exposed,” in the words of head coach Mike Babcock.
“We talked about that before ( Sunday). These two teams have set the standard,” Leafs defenceman Morgan Rielly said. “They’re playing great two- way hockey. ( Vegas) is a perfect example of a deep team with speed, size and skill and Tampa is very similar.”
“( The Lightning) have a lot of firepower. It will be a good test,” added Toronto’s top scorer Auston Matthews.
Had t hi s game been staged a couple of weeks ago, it might have favoured the Leafs being at home and with a relatively healthy squad. But that has changed. They’ve since lost defenceman Nikita Zaitsev ( suspected broken foot), centre Nazem Kadri ( possible concussion) and spent the latter part of December on a road grind.
The l oss i n Vegas was their seventh in the 10 games they played away from the ACC in t he month. And don’t look now, but the Boston Bruins’ recent run has brought them even with Toronto each with 48 points.
Normally reluctant to fall back on mentioning the schedule, Babcock couldn’t help but go there following the loss to Vegas.
“We’ve gone through a tough stretch, 14- 4 in road games to home games, and came through that pretty good actually, so we just have to get re- grouped and get playing.”
The balance tips back to the ACC starting Tuesday, with a cycle of a day off and a home game repeating through January 10. Then comes a welcome five- day break after which Babcock is expecting Zaitsev to return. Kadri should be back during the home stand.
“As good as ( Vegas) is, Tampa is probably a touch above,” Babcock said. “We’re going to have to be ready.”
Babcock planned to spend Monday scrutinizing his club’s breakdowns and getting a refresher on the Bolts, who blasted Columbus 5- 0 in Ohio on Sunday.
“That’s a team that’s won the ( 28) games they have because they smelled blood in the water,” Columbus coach John Tortorella said of Tampa Bay. “They certainly took it to us.”
Goalie Frederik Andersen was one of the few Leafs to be on his game Sunday in Vegas, as all three defensive pairs had issues on the Knights’ first three goals.
Now, Andersen and his mates have to be ready for swooping attacks of Lightning snipers such as Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos, Brayden Point, Tyler Johnson, Vladislav Namestnikov and rookies Yanni Gourde and Mikhail Sergachev. Andersen faced 30 shots on Sunday and gave up two of the three goals that young Knights’ sniper William Karlsson turned into the first hat trick in Vegas history.
“These are two of the top teams and a good way of measuring ourselves,” Andersen said. “It’s going to be a quick turnaround to play Tampa on Tuesday.”
Rielly was looking forward to a less hectic January with only four road games and no more back to backs until just before the allstar break at the end of the month.
“When you’re travelling as much as we have ( games in all four time zones), it can take a toll. There are a lot of areas we can improve on. We go over those in our meetings.
“Now it’s kind of crunch time ( Tuesday marks the schedule’s halfway point) and we have to start playing better in a number of areas.”
Welcome to 2018.