GAME CENTRE LIGHTNING 4, MAPLE LEAFS1
Tampa’s Vasilevskiy turns Leafs away again and again
TAMPA, FLA.— Mike Babcock said he was looking at Thursday’s showdown between the top two teams in the NHL standings as an “evaluation” of his club.
“You’re going to find out a lot here tonight,” Babcock said.
As it turned out, here was the chief takeaway from Toronto’s 4-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning: Sometimes you get beat by a superior goaltender — or possibly, a super human. In this case it was Andrei Vasilevskiy, who announced his return from a 15-game injury absence with a monstrous 48-save performance in the crease. Toronto outshot the Lightning 49-21, and out-chanced them by a wide margin. But the Lightning puckstopper, a Vezina Trophy finalist last season, made show-stealing save after show-stealing save to seal a win.
It was going well enough for the visitors until the final minute of the second period. Tampa Bay was leading 2-1, but the Maple Leafs had carried the bulk of the play. And if not for Vasilevskiy, not to mention a pinged crossbar by Kasperi Kapanen, Toronto might have built a sizable advantage. But the Leafs buckled as the second frame drew to a close. First Alex Killorn scored on a backhander with 36 seconds remaining. Then Babcock put out his fourth line to close out the period, and disaster ensued. The unit of Frederik Gauthier, Par Lindholm and Tyler Ennis — which strug- gled all evening — looked helpless at a big moment, as the Lightning swamped the Toronto zone and Tyler Johnson scored with 1.7 seconds remaining to make it 4-1 heading into the second intermission.
Scoring first: The Leafs came into the game unbeaten in regulation time in games in which they scored first. So when Kapanen intercepted an illadvised cross-ice pass by Nikita Kucherov in the Tampa zone and walked in alone to beat Vasilevskiy high glove and give the Maple Leafs a 1-0 lead early in the first, there was reason for optimism. Iron drawn: Kapanen also beat Vasilevskiy on an early first-period wrister from the right wing. He hit the crossbar, his second bar of the season according to NHL.com. Kapanen is tied for the team lead in crossbar denials with Nazem Kadri, who has also hit two. Kadri hit a couple of posts.
Missed chances: The Lightning could have increased their tally if not for some botched opportunities. Ryan Callahan missed an open net early in the second period. J.T. Miller whiffed on a chance nearly as golden. After further review: A Kucherov one-timer on a power play wound up in Andersen’s glove. But a video review revealed that Andersen’s glove dipped behind him, with the puck clearly crossing the goal line, and the Lightning led 2-1. Up next: The Leafs head south to Sunrise, Fla., for Saturday’s game against the Panthers.