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Lightning falls at Toronto, Stamkos upset

 
Toronto Maple Leafs goalie James Reimer (34) makes save against Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Nesterov (89) during third period NHL hockey action in Toronto on Tuesday, March 31, 2015. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Nathan Denette) NSD111
Toronto Maple Leafs goalie James Reimer (34) makes save against Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Nesterov (89) during third period NHL hockey action in Toronto on Tuesday, March 31, 2015. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Nathan Denette) NSD111
Published April 1, 2015

TORONTO — Tuesday's game had letdown written all over it.

The Lightning was coming off an emotional, 5-3 win over the Canadiens the night before, having clinched a playoff berth and season sweep of its rivals.

"We laid a lot on the table," coach Jon Cooper said.

Tampa Bay rarely has trouble showing up against top teams. But it tends to play down to its competition, and Tuesday's 3-1 loss to the struggling Leafs in a quiet-as-a-library Air Canada Centre was an example. For the second time in three games, captain Steven Stamkos said the compete level wasn't good enough.

"We have to find a way to get up for every game, we can't just do it against teams that are fighting with us," Stamkos said. "It's kind of been our Achilles heel. So we have to find a way and that starts within our room."

As much as the Lightning accomplished Monday, veteran Matt Carle said it would be "meaningless" if it didn't play well Tuesday. Tampa Bay has lost three of four and is a point behind Montreal in the Atlantic Division with four games to go.

"We have a lot to play for — we're going for home ice," veteran Brian Boyle said. "We've got to find that urgency. We've got to be consistent."

Tampa Bay (47-24-7) wasn't awful, outshooting Toronto 41-28. But there might have been half as many quality scoring chances as against Montreal. Cooper could tell something was off early on when his team didn't have the same shoot-first and crash mentality, with J.T. Brown and Vladislav Namestnikov passing up great looks.

"Have we played more desperate hockey? We have," Cooper said.

The Lightning fell behind 2-0 in the first 12 minutes. Rookie goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, still adjusting to the sporadic play of the backup role, said he didn't feel good or confident.

"When you play every game, you get confidence, you get consistent," Vasilevskiy said. "If you're on the bench, it's a little bit harder. But I don't have a choice, just keep working, that's it."

The Lightning was far from full strength, without All-Star center Tyler Johnson (upper body) and top defenseman Victor Hedman (lower body). Prospect Slater Koekkoek was called up for his debut, giving four of the six defensemen a combined 135 games experience (99 from Mark Barberio).

"Back-to-back, injuries, say all you want," Stamkos said. "I still think we should have won that game if we play the way we know how to win. So we've got to get back to that."

The Lightning pulled to within 2-1 late in the first, and nearly tied it in the second when Alex Killorn hit the post. But the Maple Leafs, ahead of only Buffalo in the East, scored 24 seconds into the third.

"It's something that's been talked about numerous times, I don't know if it's a maturity thing for us," Carle said. "Seems like we don't really play our game when we play teams lower than us in the standings, and teams we expect to beat. It's frustrating for sure."

Maple Leafs 2 0 1 3
Lightning 1 0 0 1

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First Period—1, Toronto, Kadri 17 (Lindstrom, Brennan), 8:53 (pp). 2, Toronto, Booth 7, 12:03. 3, Tampa Bay, Callahan 23 (Palat, Kucherov), 18:04 (pp). Penalties—Morrow, TB (tripping), 6:59; Callahan, TB (hooking), 9:10; J.Brown, TB, major (fighting), 15:38; Carrick, Tor, major (fighting), 15:38; Rielly, Tor (holding), 17:05.

Second Period—None. Penalties—Gardiner, Tor (tripping), 5:07; Brewer, Tor (interference), 18:49; Kucherov, TB (high-sticking), 19:49.

Third Period—4, Toronto, Rielly 8 (Kadri, Gardiner), :24. Penalties—None. Shots on Goal—Tampa Bay 14-14-13—41. Toronto 11-10-7—28. Power-play opportunities—Tampa Bay 1 of 3; Toronto 1 of 3. Goalies—Tampa Bay, Vasilevskiy 7-5-1 (28 shots-25 saves). Toronto, Reimer 9-15-0 (41-40). A—18,857 (18,819). T—2:21. Referees—Francis Charron, Brian Pochmara. Linesmen—Scott Driscoll, Pierre Racicot.