Toronto Maple Leafs at Tampa Bay Lightning: Game Four
Time: 7:00 PM EST
Location: Amalie Arena
Broadcast/Streaming: BSSUN, TBS, TVAS, SN, CBC
Opponent SBNation Site: Pension Plan Puppets
A game two victory was an inspirational boost after such a devastated loss in the opening game of the series, but unfortunately the Tampa Bay Lightning couldn’t keep up the momentum, dropping the first game of this year playoffs at Amalie Arena against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs took a 2-1 lead, which’s statistically leading to series victory more often, but the Bolts still showed some signs they can build on in the remaining games.
In his latest post-game press conference, Jon Cooper expressed some frustration about the team’s discipline. The Lightning are one of the most penalized teams of the playoffs, allowing Toronto to have a man advantage 15 times over the last three games. Some of them, including for example too many men on the ice penalty in the previous game, were completely unnecessary and should be avoided at this stage. It’s not something new for the Lightning though, just like a slow start issue, which has been haunting them throughout the whole regular season, forcing them into chasing position in too many games.
A third-period push, however, looked very promising. The Bolts finally looked very strong and organized at 5-on-5. Especially Killorn-Cirelli-Point line was very dominant, finishing the game with stunning 100 CF% and 100 xGF% and completely shutting down a Bunting-Matthews-Marner line. The Leafs still hold the edge in the whole series in expected goals percentage, but the difference is very small. In fact, the Bolts vs. the Leafs series is the closest series in this playoffs.
Playoff 5 on 5 expected goal rankings by team https://t.co/2TOxTAWM0U pic.twitter.com/urARqj20w1
— MoneyPuck.com (@MoneyPuckdotcom) May 7, 2022
While some of the Lightning’s players emerged at 5-on-5, some of them are still struggling. Amongst them unfortunately the Lightning’s star players such as Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos. Out of three Kucherov points this playoffs, all of them were recorded in Game 2 and two on power play. After a game-changing performance in Game Two, he took a step back a little in Game Three. It wasn’t a luck of attitude from him — the Russian forward recorded two shots on goal in almost 20 minutes on the ice — but some of his decisions were misunderstood by his teammates. Just like his pass from behind the net to Stamkos in the final minutes of the previous game, when the Lightning’s captain wasn’t ready to handle the pass and the situation ended with an empty-netter by Toronto.
Andrei Vasilevskiy also isn’t looking very sharp this playoffs. He’s still staying above the water in terms of goals saved above expected in all situation, but his opponent Jack Campbell so far looking more convincing.
Both Kucherov and Vasilevskiy were given a day-off yesterday and hadn’t participated in the morning practice. Kucherov’s place on the top line were taken by Riley Nash, but the lines remained the same. It also look like Jan Rutta will be out for the second straight game.
Lines at Lightning practice
Palat-Stamkos-Nash*
Killorn-Cirelli-Point
Hagel-Paul-Colton
Maroon-Bellemare-PerryHedman-Cernak
McDonagh-Bogosian
Sergachev-Foote
Rutta*Kucherov absent @TSN_Edge
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) May 7, 2022
Meanwhile the Leafs have shuffled their line a little bit, moving Kerfoot in place of Bunting. It’s not a surprise, given the Bunting-Matthews-Marner numbers in the previous game. Kerfoot already appeared on the top line in the previous game.
Lines at Leafs practice
Kerfoot – Matthews – Marner
Nylander – Tavares – Kase
Mikheyev – Kampf – Engvall
Bunting – Blackwell – Spezza
Simmonds, Clifford, AndersonRielly – Lyubushkin
Muzzin – Brodie
Giordano – Holl
Sandin – Liljegren @TSN_Edge— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) May 7, 2022
The Lightning and Andrei Vasilevskiy are 15-0 in games after losses over the last three seasons. The Lightning are also 4-5 after trailing 2-1 in playoffs and 19-13 in Game 4s in their franchise history.
Potential Tampa Bay Lightning Lines
Forwards
Ondrej Palat — Steven Stamkos — Nikita Kucherov
Alex Killorn — Anthony Cirelli — Brayden Point
Brandon Hagel — Nick Paul — Ross Colton
Pat Maroon — Pierre-Edouard Bellemare — Corey Perry
Defense
Victor Hedman — Erik Cernak
Ryan McDonagh — Cal Foote
Mikhail Sergachev — Zach Bogosian
Goaltender
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Brian Elliott
Potential Toronto Maple Leaf Lines
Forwards
Alex Kerfoot — Auston Matthews — Mitch Marner
William Nylander — John Tavares — Ondrej Kase
Ilya Mikheyev — David Kampf — Pierre Engvall
Michael Bunting — Colin Blackwell — Jason Spezza
Defense
Morgan Rielly — Ilya Lyubushkin
Jake Muzzin — T.J. Brodie
Mark Giordano — Justin Holl
Goaltender
Jack Campbell
Erik Kallgren
