Lightning Round: The Lightning-Leafs matchup is set for the first round

On Saturday night, the Tampa Bay Lightning posted their third consecutive win and therefore secured their spot for the upcoming postseason, guaranteeing themselves at least third place in the Atlantic division. For the Lightning it will be the sixth straight playoff presence.

With the Lightning clinching their playoff berth, we also know the first opening-round series: for the second year in a row the Bolts will face the Toronto Maple Leafs. Last year the Lightning defeated Toronto 4-3 on their way for the third consecutive Stanley Cup final.

There’s still a small amount of intrigue ahead of this first-round series as both teams need to settle which one will get  home-ice advantage. With both teams winning their games last night, the status quo between them remains the same: the Leafs are currently leading the Lightning by four points with two games in hand. The two teams will also play each other on April 11 for their final matchup of the regular season.

In their two games this season, the Lightning have a 1-1-0 record against the Leafs. On December 3, the Lightning defeated Toronto 4-3 in overtime at Amalie Arena with Alex Killorn scoring a game-winning goal. In their second game, the Leafs got revenge, beating the Bolts 4-1 in Toronto.

Lightning Links

The Lightning defeated the New York Islanders 5-0, extending their winning streak to three games and posting their second shutout in a week. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 38 saves on that night, while Brayden Point scored his 48th goal of the season [Raw Charge]

Alex Killorn recorded an assist in his 8ooth career game in the NHL while Darren Raddysh recorded his first two career points, both assists. Mikhail Sergachev, Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos, and Brayden Point (who had a three-point night) recorded the other four goals. Ilya Sorokin was pulled from the Islanders’ net after allowing 4 goals on 21 shots. Semyon Varlamov relieved him and stopped 10 of 11.

Darren Raddysh recorded his first NHL points last night, assisting on Mikhail Sergachev and Steven Stamkos.

Tanner Jeannot scored his first goal for the Lightning.

Sergachev left the game in the third period, the Lightning didn’t provide any update on his status so far.

The Syracuse Crunch defeated the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 4-3 in overtime on Saturday night.

With two goals last night, Alex Barre-Boulet now has the most goals scored in Syracuse Crunch history.

The Orlando Solar Bears lost their second consecutive game to the Jacksonville Iceman this weekend.

Hockey News

The results of one of the last Saturday nights of this regular season.

The Edmonton Oilers also clinched their playoff berth last night.

With a hat-trick against the Anaheim Ducks, Leon Draisaitl recorded his third 50-goal season. He also became the first player since Mario Lemieux in 1995-96 to score 30 power-play goals in a single season.

David Pastrnak became the fifth player this season to hit the 100-point mark.