For the latest Leafs updates or Follow @mikeinbuffalo on Twitter The Toronto Maple Leafs faced a must-win scenario with a tight race for a playoff spot and got solid performances on special teams and from goaltender Frederik Andersen in a 2-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday. Auston Matthews 47th goal early in the third period provided the winning margin for the Leafs after William Nylander and Ondrej Palat exchanged goals in a roller coaster opening 40 minutes. Toronto dominated the first period, outshooting Tampa 17-6 and taking the lead on Nylander’s 31st of the season, but the Lightning responded with an equally dominant middle frame, outshooting the Leafs 15-5 and tying the game on Palat’s rebound goal. The Toronto power play (which went 0-9 in the three losses to San Jose, Los Angeles, and Anaheim) went 2-for-5 on the night and their penalty killing shut down Tampa on the man advantage on four opportunities, but when the game was on the line, Andersen repeated his stellar showing against the Kings last week, with 14 third period stops. “We haven't really been going as a team, so we haven't had that(ability to finish in the third period). This is another really close hockey game that we've had to play here and, again, at 5-on-5 we were outscored.… Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said after the game. “When you’re going up against the best offensive team in the NHL, you’re going to give up a great deal. When we did, (Andersen) was outstanding, in the second period especially. There were a lot of very good things for us and we’ll take two very important points.… With the win, the Leafs increased their lead to three points on Florida, but there continue to be reasons to be concerned if they can maintain a consistent performance level for 60 minutes. Another area that has to be a factor with the postseason approaching and the Lightning their likely first-round matchup was the Leafs lack of response to Tampa crashing the net and taking liberties with Andersen. The Leafs netminder (who missed time with a neck injury last month) was sideswiped by Blake Coleman in the second period and had Alex Killorn fall on top of him during a scoring chance in the third. In both instances, no Toronto player responded or confronted the Tampa player for taking liberties with Andersen.
Blake Coleman goes right through Andersen pic.twitter.com/zyBQ3IqLlA
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) March 11, 2020
We’re exasperated.
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