Tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Toronto Maple Leafs (30-22-6, 66 points) and Tampa Bay Lightning (32-19-5, 69 points) go head-to-head live from the Tampa Bay Times Forum for the second of four meetings against each other. The game can be live streamed here. Toronto fans can hear all of the action on TSN 1050 while Tampa Bay fans can do the same on WFLA 970.
Toronto has won three of its last four while Tampa Bay has lost three out of its last four and will be without Steven Stamkos for the 40th time this season as he recovers from a broken right tibia that has sidelined him from the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. The first time these two teams met, the Maple Leafs notched a 3-2 win over the Lightning in Toronto on Jan. 28.
The Lightning is coming off of a disappointing road trip where they went 1-3-0, and they close out their schedule before the Olympic break with two teams that are right on their heels in the standings, the Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings.
"Two teams that are nipping at our heels," coach Jon Cooper said of Toronto and Detroit to the Tampa Bay Times. "We'll have this team ready to play for those games. It will be good to get home. It's just really disappointing we pulled just two points out of this road trip."
The Maple Leafs are coming off of a 4-1 loss at the hands of the Florida Panthers where goaltender Jonathan Bernier faced 47 shots.
"Bernier played unbelievable for us again," David Clarkson told the Toronto Sun. "We have to find a way to be better as a team. We owe it to both of these goalies to have a better outcome."
Bernier is 20-16-5 with a 2.63 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage this season for Toronto. If he starts tonight, he'll likely be opposed by Ben Bishop, who is 27-8-4 with a 1.98 GAA and a .933 save percentage this season.
Bishop will be looking to stop a Toronto unit that has been led by Phil Kessel, who has 61 points off of 30 goals and 31 assists while James van Riemsdyk has 22 markers and 23 helpers for 45 points and Nazem Kadri is on a six-game point streak while lighting the lamp 15 times and adding 26 assists for 41 points.
Martin St. Louis took Stamkos' place on the Team Canada Olympic roster and leads Tampa Bay with 54 points off of 25 goals and 29 assists while Valtteri Filppula has 20 tallies and 21 markers for 41 points and Victor Hedman has found the twine 11 times and added 25 assists for 36 points.
The Maple Leafs and Lightning faceoff live from the Tampa Bay Times Forum tonight.
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