Tampa Bay Lightning vs Toronto Maple Leafs Live Stream Online
🔊“Are the Lightning really set for the playoffs? Tampa, after a fairly successful series of three victories, lost points in three out of four matches and stalled on the edge of the playoff zone. The club from Miami has started to regularly engage in goal shootouts, which doesn’t always end in their favor. Toronto, on the other hand, is in excellent form. The Canadian team has only suffered two losses in their last eight matches.
Head-to-head
In the current regular season, the opponents have already faced each other. Back then, the “Maple Leafs” confidently won on their home ice with a score of 5:2. The biggest contribution to the Canadian club’s success was made by forward William Nylander, who scored a double and added an assist.
Tampa
The “Lightning” have clear issues with stability. The club plays in streaks. After a few wins, they inevitably fall into a series of failures. Recently, the coaching staff led by Jon Cooper decided to combat this ailment by increasing productivity. Virtually every Tampa game turns into a goal-scoring spectacle with unpredictable outcomes. Specifically, 19 pucks were scored in the last two matches. First, the team dealt with Colorado (8:2), and then lost to Washington (4:5). A questionable tactic.
Toronto
The “Maple Leafs” have successfully adopted Craig Berube’s new tactical schemes and no longer rush into reckless attacks with all five players. The priority is given to defensive actions. This might not please the local sophisticated audience, but it yields results over the course of the season. In the last five matches, Toronto secured four wins and solidified their position in the Eastern Conference playoff eight. The club only failed against the current Stanley Cup holders, Florida (1:5). But this defeat will serve as an excellent lesson – abandoning their style is not an option.
Probable Lineups
Tampa: Vasilevskiy – Moser, Hedman – Kucherov, Point, Guentzel
Toronto: Stolarz – Rielly, Ekman-Larsson – McMann, Tavares, Marner
Goalkeepers
Tampa’s goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy has only maintained a save percentage of 90% once in his last three games. His slump coincides precisely with the team’s failures. Too much depends on the Russian player here.
Toronto’s goalkeeper Anthony Stolarz couldn’t handle the attacking activity of his former Florida teammates. He conceded twice by the end of the fifth minute of the first period. In fact, the initial pressure from the “Panthers” decided the outcome of the confrontation.
Editor’s Prediction
The recent high-scoring games of the “Lightning” leave us with little choice. Yes, the Canadian club prefers to build defensive traps in the neutral zone, but in the upcoming game, they will face immense pressure, which will be too difficult to contain. They will have to respond shot for shot. We tend to believe that this matchup will result in another goal shootout. Our key bet is total over 5.5 goals.
