TORONTO – During the prolonged two-day break between the magic in Tampa and the anticipation in Toronto, John Tavares, Auston Matthews, William Nylander and the rest have all been quick to remind the hopeful that the fourth win is always the hardest.
Despite leaping ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-1 in the series and earning themselves three cracks to break their 19-year-old spell, nothing is being taken for granted in Leafland.
It’s all game faces and deadbolt routine at Scotiabank Arena on the morning of Game 5.
“We’ve got to prepare to win one very challenging hockey game. Anything else outside of our preparation and our execution when game time comes is a distraction,” Toronto Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe says. “And it’s on me as a coach and our players individually to eliminate as many distractions as possible.”
And it falls on the Lightning, losers of three straight, to dodge their third four-game losing skid since March 19.
“When your back’s against the wall, it’s either fight or flight, right?” Steven Stamkos says. “Either you say it’s gonna be too hard to come back and don’t give your best effort, or you go out there and you lay it all on the line. That’s what I expect this group will do.”
The visiting captain believes the extra off-day can be used a nice reset for a hobbled group that got stunned by back-to-back overtime losses in their own rink.
“You win a game, you want to play the next day because you want to keep the momentum,” Stamkos says. “You lose a game, it’s not a bad thing to get some extra rest, especially when some guys are banged up. And extra day to watch some film and dissect some things.”
The tape will reveal the Lightning, and its fierce forecheck holding its own at even-strength. Tampa is getting to Ilya Samsonov (.876) this series.
“Scoring hasn’t been the issue for us in this series. It’s been keeping the puck out of the net,” coach Jon Cooper says.
It’s not lost on the Lightning that road teams have fared well this month. Heck, down 3-1 as well, the Panthers and Islanders pushed just their respective series to a sixth game by coming up big on enemy ice.
“There can be times, too, where the home crowd can be a bit of disadvantage for you. At times, the way the crowd feels,” Cooper says. “You can feel it. You can feel it work for you or against you. At times maybe that can get in players’ heads.”
Vasilevskiy can’t see it, can’t stop it
Among all playoff goalies who have appeared in more than two games, Andrei Vasilevskiy’s .856 save percentage ranks dead last. Ditto his atrocious -6.19 goals saved above replacement.
The all-world goaltender is looking fallible.
Blame him. Blame the Bolts’ depleted defence for not boxing out and tying up sticks. And credit the Maple Leafs for executing a game plan of screens and tips and not shying away from the blue paint.
“Last year they were trying to play more of a skill game. I’m not sure they’ve done something different or we just aren’t doing as good job as last year as a team in front, but I think last year they played more skill hockey,” Vasilevskiy told Tampa reporters Wednesday in his first availability since the series began.
“I’ll give them a credit; they’ve been pretty good. So, we have to work harder and just take a deep breath and just play one game and then we’ll see where the game will take us.”
The Lightning have a choice here: either get out in front and block more point attempts, or dig in to take away the sticks of Toronto’s big tippers.
“I’m 100% sure that it’s the game plan for them, and so far they’ve been executing that plan very well. Lots of screens, tips, deflections. We didn’t get much luck on tips and bounces as well,” Vasilevskiy said.
So, how can he better track pucks through a maze of bodies?
“Buy myself, like, f—–‘ X-ray glasses.”
Lalonde revealing state secrets?
Yes, Cooper caught wind of his former assistant, Derek Lalonde, revealing on Sportsnet that the Lightning restructured its defensive schemes to guard against Vasilevskiy’s big weakness — point shots with traffic.
“Listen. Sportsnet is paying him well to go give an opinion. So, if he’s gotta make something up about that stuff, he does,” Cooper responded Wednesday, smiling.
“Listen. He’s there because he was an assistant coach on this team. So, he’s trying to offer insight and trying to give fans something. He should be doing that. He’s just got to make sure it’s accurate, what he’s saying.”
Did the Detroit Red Wings coach cross a line by spilling classified info?
“It’s gotta be accurate before you say it. That’s my only thing.”
Nylander’s ice time dips
William Nylander reached a career high in ice time (18:33) over the regular season, yet the dynamic winger has seen that average drop to 17:06 through four playoff games, despite two of them needing overtime.
Keefe leaned on Nylander more often in the 2020, 2021 and 2022 postseasons.
His 14:21 skated in Game 4 caught many an eye, including Nylander’s own.
“I feel like this series has been a little bit unusual that way with the ice time,” he says. “Just try and do my best when I’m out there.”
Despite registering three assists, Nylander was a minus-1 in Game 4 and committed a bad offensive-zone trip on Stamkos that led to Tampa’s opening goal.
“It is what it is,” Nylander brushed off. “It’s not like I try and do that intentionally or anything.”
Keefe says his usage of Nylander — a 40-goal threat but hardly a defensive force —requires balance. Nylander has been on the ice for seven 5-on-5 goals against, tied for most among all forwards this postseason.
“When Willy is at his best, you don’t have to protect as much and you can just go. On the road, in particular, that wasn’t the case necessarily. He is still a very important guy for us. It is important for me not to lose him. He can still provide a lot in very important moments. He did that the other night.”
Is it more about his defensive play or his engagement?
“They go hand in hand,” Keefe replied.
Knies (bails ’em) out
En route to his Game 5 promotion to a dynamic second line with John Tavares and Mitch Marner, Matthew Knies made a what could be viewed as a game-saving defensive play Monday, swiping a puck off Ilya Samsonov’s goal line.
“Honestly, I don’t remember it too well,” Knies smiles. “I kind of blacked out. It was such a quick moment. Just lucky that one didn’t bounce in, and I could get a handle of it and stop that.”
Tavares, who opened up his basement for the recent University of Minnesota student, tries putting himself in Knies’ skates ahead of Thursday’s potential clincher.
“I think back to when I was 20 years old, being a bit naïve was kind of good,” Tavares says. “Maybe don’t understand the full circumstances, certain things you haven’t experienced yet.”
Knies is playing so confident and free, Keefe’s only quibble is that sometimes the winger holds onto the puck too long to make a play. It’s a balance the coach knows Knies will figure out with experience.
One-Timers: Matt Murray (concussion) practised on a separate pad away from the team Wednesday for about 90 minutes. “He has been working mostly in recovery mode on his own,” Keefe said. “Now, he is starting to take shots from players in more game-like situations. It is steady progress there.”… Victor Mete (lower body) rejoined practice for the first time since Dec. 6. The Maple Leafs, incredibly, are now carrying 10(!) healthy defencemen…. Pat Maroon, deadpan, when asked how different the Maple Leafs are since trading for his best friend, Ryan O’Reilly: “Yeah, we’ve been answering a lot of questions about him. No different. No.”… Mikey Eyssimont left the Lightning’s optional skate earlier than Tanner Jeannot. Perhaps he draws back into the series.
Maple Leafs projected lineup for Game 5
Järnkrok – Matthews – Nylander
Knies – Tavares – Marner
Kerfoot – O’Reilly – Acciari
Aston-Reese – Kämpf – Lafferty
Rielly – Schenn
McCabe – Brodie
Giordano – Holl
Samsonov (starting)
Woll
