GAME CENTRE,
Leafs struck by Lightning in one-sided battle
The Maple Leafs had arguably their worst second period of the season in Monday night’s 6-2 loss to a Tampa team that ultimately proved why they are No. 1 overall in the NHL. Cedric Paquette fired a short-handed goal to cap off a three-goal second for Tampa at Scotiabank Arena. Toronto trailed 2-0 heading into the period, but instead of a solid response they were flat in all aspects, outside a brilliant individual effort by Auston Matthews for his 31st goal. Connor Brown scored the other Leafs goal with five seconds to go. á In a nutshell: The Lightning beat the Leafs to countless pucks in the Toronto zone. They were great at getting pucks behind Leafs defencemen as their forwards arrived on the forecheck — that gave them speed entering the zone. Tampa was also great at getting shots through to the net as their forwards were crossing the slot. That’s very hard to defend against, and the result was a pair of tip-in goals in the first period. The Leafs were relatively solid defensively in the first, but were not in the game over the final two periods. That had to be disturbing to coach Mike Babcock. á Get shorty: Babcock probably wasn’t enamoured with Paquette’s short-handed marker, either. The Leafs were changing troops on the power play, with the play going up ice toward their zone. The puck was cleared into the Leafs’ zone as the change went down. Backup goalie Garret Sparks didn’t play it well, and all of a sudden the Lightning had a three-on-one chance. How that happens on the power play, with the Leafs trailing 4-1 at that point, is one of the many details that will be addressed in Tuesday’s practice. á A first for Freddie: Leafs goalie Frederik Andersen was pulled for the first time this year, after the fourth goal. It was hard to blame him for any of them. The hook was more of a message to the rest of the team. Toronto, behind 2-0 after a mostly decent first period, allowed two goals in the span of 30 seconds by the 4:50 mark of the second. á Matthews’ beauty: Matthews’ goal was his 31st of the season and one of his nicest. He entered the offensive zone with speed, faked a backhand pass to the middle and deked Tampa forward Brayden Point. That cleared a path to the goal and Matthews buried a snapshot low through the five hole.
á The takeaway: This was supposed to be a sparkling matchup between two of the best teams in the league. The Leafs came up flat in a big moment, and that happens. For their fans, it wasn’t exactly a confidence booster with the playoffs nearing. But the Leafs were without Kasperi Kapanen, a late scratch (illness). They also were without two key defencemen once again — Jake Gardiner (back) and Travis Dermott (shoulder) — which left them vulnerable in their own zone. They are a better hockey team, and they have three games in the next five nights to prove it.
á Up next: Leafs are back on home ice Wednesday to face the Chicago Blackhawks.