Last year against the Lightning, the Leafs’ power play flatlined at 14.3 percent during their seven-game playoff defeat, going an embarrassing 4 for 24. Toronto had a league-best 27.2 percent mark last season and sits second in the NHL this season at 26.0 percent. The Leafs, armed with an enviable collection of scorers, have been a dominant power-play team since Spencer Carbery arrived as an assistant coach starting in 2021-22. Nikita Kucherov, 113 points Brayden Point, 95 points Steven Stamkos, 84 points Brandon Hagel, 64 points Alex Killorn, 64 points X-Factor Mitch Marner, 99 points William Nylander, 87 points Auston Matthews, 85 points John Tavares, 80 points Michael Bunting, 49 points Across the three games, the territorial play was close, with the Leafs holding the 5-on-5 expected goal edge at 52.77 percent. The Leafs handled Tampa with a 4-3 win in last week’s rubber match despite the fact Tampa dominated the play, outshooting Toronto 48-24, but the game didn’t necessarily tell us much given the Leafs rested Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and Mark Giordano for load management. Whereas the 5-on-5 expected goals were close in the first game, the Leafs were dominant in the second.
20, halting a five-game winning streak for Tampa. 3 affair with 15 minor penalties, the Lightning beat the Leafs 4-3 in overtime.
#Lightning score game 7 series#
So will the experienced Bolts, who reached their third consecutive Stanley Cup Final last season, again crush the Leafs’ dream of winning their first playoff series since 2004? Or will GM Kyle Dubas’ rejigged Toronto roster, which inserted six new faces into its starting lineup at the Trade Deadline alone, finally break through into the great unknown that is Round 2? Head to HeadĮach team won a home game in December. No more Ondrej Palat, Ryan McDonagh, Jack Campbell and Ilya Mikheyev, to name a few of the departed 2022 participants. We’re not seeing a true rematch of last season. The Leafs and Lightning have undergone significant personnel changes, especially the Leafs, who have pivoted away from analytics and finesse toward a grittier, intangible-laden lineup, seemingly in preparation to battle the Lightning, who remain the NHL’s heaviest team. The truth, of course: no two playoff series are the same. So that’s one melodramatic narrative to define this long-anticipated opening-round matchup: and I say long-anticipated because it was pretty much locked in before the Times Square ball dropped to ring in the New Year. 2 slot in the Atlantic Division again and battle the Tampa Bay Lightning again, doomed to repeat history in an endless loop. The Toronto Maple Leafs, trying to end a cycle of first-round playoff exits, secure the No.
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