Lightning at Maple Leafs
Mitch Marner is making people forget about his slow start to the season and looks to continue an offensive surge when the Toronto Maple Leafs host the NHL-best Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday. The 20-year-old Marner has scored seven goals in his last 10 games after managing just five in the first 47 contests this campaign and has been a major factor in Toronto's 7-1-0 burst.
“He's been working real hard in practice and now it’s starting to show in the game,” Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock told reporters after Marner’s five-point performance in Saturday’s 6-3 win over Ottawa. “It was the full 60 minutes of doing it right and being on top of it.” Toronto’s surge has left it comfortably in third place in the Atlantic Division - eight points behind Tampa Bay, which has won four of five this month after Saturday’s 4-3 triumph over Los Angeles. The Lightning continue to post victories but have had trouble closing out games of late while getting outshot in the third period in six of their last seven contests - four times by a margin of at least eight. “You look down the stretch and what’s to come and what we’re trying to prepare for, that’s not going to take us very far,” Tampa Bay defenseman Anton Stralman told reporters after the team was outshot by the Kings 20-4 over the final 20 minutes.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NHL Network, FS Sun (Tampa Bay), TSN4, TVA (Toronto)
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (38-14-3): Nikita Kucherov, who leads the league with 69 points, has scored in back-to-back games to pull within one of his third straight 30-goal season. Captain Steven Stamkos also tallied on Saturday and has accumulated four goals and six assists over his last eight contests while Brayden Point (46 points) has been kept off the scoresheet in four straight games. Yanni Gourde has recorded three goals and five assists during his five-game point streak and Alex Killorn has netted four tallies and set up four others in the same span.
ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS (33-19-5): Marner, who is tied for second on the team in scoring with William Nylander at 42 points, credits linemates Patrick Marleau and Nazem Kadri (10 points in his last eight games) for his offensive revival. “It has been great playing with these two guys,” Marner, who was the first player to notch five points in a game for Toronto since Tomas Kaberle in 2009, told reporters. “They move the puck well, they skate well. It’s exciting to play with them.” Leading scorer Auston Matthews (26 goals, 44 points) has tallied seven times in his last 10 contests while adding four assists in that stretch.
OVERTIME
1. Lightning D Victor Hedman, who has registered two goals and two assists in his last four contests, is slated to play in his 600th NHL game Monday.
2. Toronto G Frederik Andersen has struggled against the Lightning in his career, going 1-5-0 with an .864 save percentage.
3. Tampa Bay G Andrei Vasilevskiy has made at least 42 saves in two of his last five starts and turned aside 29 shots in a 2-0 win at Toronto on Jan. 2.