Lightning beat Maple Leafs to avoid elimination
TORONTO -- Brayden Point scored two goals, Victor Hedman added three assists, and the Tampa Bay Lightning staved off elimination from playoff contention with a 4-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night.
The Maple Leafs lost their second game in a row and again failed to clinch their first playoff berth in four years.
Nikita Kucherov and Michael Bournival also scored for the Lightning, who still must win its two remaining games to have a chance at reaching the playoffs. Ondrej Palat added two assists for the Lightning (40-30-10).
Nazem Kadri scored for the Maple Leafs (39-26-15).
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 26 saves in the Tampa Bay goal.
Maple Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersen made 26 stops and kept the Maple Leafs in game when he turned back a couple of breakaways.
The Lightning had a 2-1 lead after two periods. Bournival extended the lead when he scored his second goal of the season from the slot at 2:00 of the third.
Point scored his second goal of the game and 16th of the season at 14:11 of the third period on a shot from the high slot.
The teams were playing with four skaters aside when the goal was scored with Kucherov for cross checking and Tyler Bozak off for roughing.
NOTES: The Lightning recalled LW Michael Bournival and C Cory Conacher from the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League on Wednesday and both played Thursday. ... Maple Leafs C Brian Boyle (upper-body injury) left the loss to the Washington Capitals on Tuesday in the first period and did not return. He was able to play Thursday. ... Lightning C Tyler Johnson (lower-body injury) was a game-time decision Thursday and did not dress for the game. ... The Maple Leafs are home to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday. ... The Lightning will visit the Montreal Canadiens on Friday.