The Toronto Maple Leafs took a 4-0 lead over the Tampa Bay Lightning after two periods before the Lightning rallied with three goals in the third, but dropped a tough 5-3 decision to finish playing five games in eight days.
“It’s one of those things that turns into a little bit of playoff hockey,” said Lightning forward Brandon Hagel. “We are banged up a little bit, missing ‘Kuch’ (Nikita Kucherov) and ‘Pauly’ (Nick Paul), but at the same time, we are at home and we need to grind.”
Kucherov was out with an undisclosed injury that he suffered in the 3-2 overtime win in Nashville on Friday evening. Winger Nick Paul missed his sixth consecutive game when he also suffered an undisclosed injury in the win at Pittsburgh on Nov. 19.
After Maple Leafs goalie Joseph Woll stopped a breakaway opportunity from Lightning center Michael Eyssimont, Toronto defenseman Chris Taney and winger Nicholas Robertson scored within 33 seconds to give the Leafs a 3-0 lead at 8:39 in the second period.
When Leafs center John Taveras scored on a backhand shot from he left circle at 18:59, Tampa Bay was down 4-0 and not in an amiable position going to the third period.
“When we got down there, we had a little lull which you don’t want to see in your team but I guess it’s understandable,” commented coach Jon Cooper. “There’s probably a little frustration set in because we weren’t scoring and so there’s no moral victories in the game.”
The Lightning adjusted their mindset in the third period as Eyssimont opened Tampa Bay scoring with a goal from the right circle at 11:39.
Cooper used some excellent strategy when he pulled goalie Andre Vasilevsky with over five minutes remaining and attacked Woll with six men.
“I think we gave ourselves a chance the whole game,” he said. “I didn’t think we played poorly, we had ample chances to score and we didn’t. Tip your hat, their goalie played pretty well tonight.”
Woll stopped 38 of the Lightning’s 41 shots as they outshot the Maple Leafs, 41-28.
Jake Guentzel scored on the left side of the crease at 15:19 and then Cam Atkinson scored on a redirect as Brandon Hagel recorded one of his two assists. Atkinson’s shot from the center of the right circle scissored the Toronto lead to 4-3 at the 17:38 mark in the third period.
“I think some nights the mental side of us isn’t there, but I can tell you our work ethic and our work is there every single night,” Hagel noted. “It’s just execution sometimes, but we have got a good group.”
Hagel analyzed the mental positives of this team as it continued the battle in the third period. He expected the fight from his team.
“Sometimes you are going to have those nights, so we got into the third period and we just continued to play,” he said. “Everyone came out there and we tried to put something together, but we fell short so hopefully we can build off something like that and move on to the next game.”
Recording Greatness: Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman had two assists to pass Martin St. Louis and record the highest career mark for assists at 590. Hedman mentioned that with Kucherov and his play, that record may not stand for long.
“You don’t expect that going into this league, but hopefully I can enjoy that for a few months before Kuch passes me, so hopefully I can keep feeding him the puck at the same time,” said Hedman.
Cooper analyzed Hedman’s Tampa Bay career assist record.
“Anytime you can say ‘the best’; ‘the greatest’; ‘the most’, then you are attached to that,’” Cooper commented. “It’s pretty cool.”
Cooper also pointed to former Lightning stars that Hedman passed to set the career assist record.
“The Marty St. Louis’s, the Steven Stamkos’s, the Vinny Lecavalier’s, that played here for a long time – you get to hang your hat and say you have the most, that’s something. The most assists,” continued Cooper.
With the milestone theme in place, Cooper coached his 900th NHL game with the Bolts on Wednesday when Brayden Point recorded a hat-trick vs. the Washington Capitals.
