Tampa Bay @ Toronto preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 11, 2019 ) Tampa Bay 6, Toronto 2

The Toronto Maple Leafs are locked into third place in the Atlantic Division after struggling for almost a month and look to gain a little momentum with two games left in the regular season, starting with a visit from the NHL-best Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday. The Maple Leafs will face Boston without home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs after losing eight of their last 12 contests (4-6-2) and hope to turn their switch back on in the next week.

“We’ve got to keep challenging ourselves to continue to find ways to get better and continue to up our game as a team, and then it kind of falls to each individual to be best prepared for what is coming,” Toronto center John Tavares told reporters. “We’ve got some good tests coming up and we have a lot to play for.” The Maple Leafs, who have dropped two of three against the Lightning in 2018-19, end the regular season at Montreal on Saturday night and Tampa Bay plays Boston on Saturday afternoon to end their historic campaign. The Lightning boast 60 wins to tie the 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens for the second most in NHL history for a season, but have lost three of their last five after dropping a 4-2 decision at Montreal on Tuesday. “I think it’s important you’re going into the playoffs with some type of DNA,” Tampa Bay defenseman Anton Stralman told reporters after the loss. “This wasn’t a game where we showed what we are. I think it’s important going into the Toronto and Boston game that we play to our standards and we play our game, follow the game plan.”

TV: 7 p.m. ET, FS Sun (Tampa Bay), TSN4 (Toronto)

ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (60-16-4): Captain Steven Stamkos has scored nine of his team-leading 43 goals in the last 10 games and is two points from matching the career high of 97 that he posted in 2011-12. Right wing Nikita Kucherov was kept off the scoresheet Tuesday, but leads the NHL with 125 points and is two away from tying Alexander Mogilny (1992-93) for the most in a season by a Russian-born player. Stralman returned to the lineup Tuesday after missing 12 games with a lower-body injury and logged a team-high 22 minutes, 52 seconds of ice time.

ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS (46-27-7): Mitch Marner recorded a goal and six assists the last seven games to increase his team-leading total to 92 points while Tavares scored six of his team-best 47 goals in the past five contests. Jake Gardiner (back) is expected to return to the lineup Thursday after missing the past 18 games, but fellow defenseman Jake Muzzin and forward Andreas Johnsson are questionable because of illness. Goalie Frederik Andersen (36 wins, .918 save percentage this season) hopes to improve his disappointing career numbers against Tampa Bay (3-8-1, .876 SP).

OVERTIME

1. Tampa Bay D Victor Hedman (upper body) missed the last two games and is not expected to be in the lineup until the playoffs begin next week.

2. Toronto’s Morgan Rielly leads all defensemen in the league with 20 goals, but has not scored in eight games.

3. Lightning G Andrei Vasilevskiy leads the league with 38 wins and owns a .944 save percentage against the Maple Leafs this season.

PREDICTION: Lightning 4, Maple Leafs 2