The Tampa Bay Lightning had an opportunity to take advantage of a reeling Toronto Maple Leafs team. Instead, it was the Leafs who dictated the pace of play and made the most of their opportunities on their way to a 5-2 win. It was a crushing, disappointing defeat for a Bolts team that considers itself to be a contender in the Eastern Conference.
It didn’t take long for the Leafs to excite the Air Canada Centre faithful. Just 1:29 into the game, David Clarkson stepped up in the slot and wired the puck past Ben Bishop for his sixth of the season. Clarkson had five goals in his first full season with the Leafs, so scoring his sixth this early on must have felt nice.
While the shot clock and shot-attempts chart show that the first period was an evenly played battle, it’s not unfair to suggest that the Bolts struggled through it. They really couldn’t get anything going. That was until Alex Killorn scored a short-handed goal with just over one minute left on the clock. He raced into the Toronto zone and simply wristed the puck past Jonathan Bernier; the team needed it.
Given that the Maple Leafs were struggling so much heading into the contest, that late first period goal from Killorn could have been a backbreaker. It wasn’t. Just 2:45 into the second period, Richard Panik (yes, that Richard Panik) scored his fourth goal of the season to put the Leafs up 2-1. The real story on that goal wasn’t Panik; it was Matt Carle. Maybe he thought Panik was still a member of the Lightning. Maybe the blue and white jerseys confused him. Words can’t even describe his actions on the Panik goal:
Try describing that to your friends.
Things went from bad to worse for the Bolts, as James van Riemsdyk scored two goals in the latter half of the middle frame to put Toronto up 4-1. That pretty much sealed the deal for the Bolts, as it was abundantly clear that Thursday just wasn't their night.
Steven Stamkos briefly cut the deficit to two goals in the third period when he scored his 13th of the season, assisted by Nikita Kucherov. It wasn’t nearly enough. Roman Polak scored an empty net goal to secure the Leafs’s 5-2 win and send the Lightning home with their heads hung low.
Give full credit to the Leafs for converting on their opportunities. Give full credit to the Leafs for not allowing the Lightning to pepper them with 30+ shots. The Bolts needed to be better. This is a disappointing loss, and one that helps to drop them three points back of the Montreal Canadiens in the Atlantic Division race.
As always, thanks for reading.
Michael Stuart has been the Tampa Bay Lightning writer for HockeyBuzz since 2012. Visit his archive to read more or follow him on Twitter. 
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