7:10 pm
May 14

Lightning @ Maple Leaf

Who will WIN this matchup?

Tampa Bay Lightning (51-23-8)

@ Toronto Maple Leafs (54-21-7)

 

Starting Goalies:

Andrei Vasilevskiy (TB): Unconfirmed

Jack Campbell (TOR): Unconfirmed

 

Current odds:

Tampa Bay Lightning: (+107)

Toronto Maple Leafs: (-128)

 

• The visiting Tampa Bay Lightning and the Toronto Maple Leafs carry contrasting recent playoff histories into Game 7 of their first-round playoff series Saturday night. The Lightning kept alive their hopes of a third straight Stanley Cup on Thursday when Brayden Point scored at 18:04 of overtime to give them a 4-3 victory in Game 6 at Tampa.

• The Maple Leafs, on the other hand, are trying to get past the first playoff round for the first time since 2004. They have failed in six attempts since.

• Since 2018, the Leafs have lost eight consecutive games in which they had a chance to win a series. They lost Game 7 to the Boston Bruins in 2018; Games 6 and 7 to Boston in 2019; Game 5 in a best-of-five series in 2020 to the Columbus Blue Jackets; Games 5, 6 and 7 to the Montreal Canadiens in 2021; and Thursday’s Game 6 to Tampa Bay.

• The Lightning scored the first two goals Thursday as they did in losing Game 5 on Tuesday. Toronto took the lead Thursday when John Tavares scored twice within 26 seconds in the final minute of the second period. Nikita Kucherov’s third-period goal tied the game when two high-sticking calls 16 seconds apart on David Kampf and Alexander Kerfoot gave the Lightning a two-man advantage. Toronto questioned the call on Kampf when video showed that defenseman Cal Foote took the stick to his shoulder and not to his face.

• The Maple Leafs had opportunities to win, particularly in overtime when they had a 9-6 advantage in shots on goal and created the better scoring chances.

• Lightning coach Jon Cooper noted that Tampa Bay capitalized on its special-teams opportunities, which he considered a theme of the series.

• Now one winner-take-all game will decide whether the Maple Leafs will get the proverbial monkey off their backs or if the Lightning will extend their postseason mastery.

4/10
Confidence
StreakSmarter Pick
Tampa Bay Lightning
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