Toronto Maple Leafs look to bounce back against Tampa Bay Lightning - NHL Preview
The Toronto Maple Leafs miss out on the playoffs once again this season and will now be looking to end their 2011-12 season on a high with a victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday, April 5, 2012 at the Air Canada Centre.
It was another season to forget for Toronto whose failure in the final half of the season saw them drop out of the playoff spots and finally get eliminated from contention.
The Leafs are 13th in the Eastern Conference with 78-points and will be looking to win their remaining two games in the regular season starting with the Lightning.
Tampa Bay Lightning on the other hand are better placed in the Eastern Conference but have dropped points to the Leafs in each of their previous three encounters this season.
The Lightning, remain 11th in the Eastern Conference with 81-points and will also be looking to end what has been a disappointing season on a positive note.
Maple Leafs (34-36-10, 78 pts)
The Leafs have a great record against Tampa Bay this season and will be looking to continue that run of form when they face their opponents at home ice.
Toronto lost its last game against the Buffalo Sabres on the road 6-5 in overtime after giving up a three goal lead.
The Leafs were up 3-0 at the end of the first period but were pegged back by a desperate Buffalo Sabres side who were fighting to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Toronto was pegged back to 3-2 in the second period but bounced back in the third to take a 5-3 lead. However, two late goals by Sabres forwards Alexander Sulzer and Jordan Leopold sent the game to overtime where Derek Roy’s power play goal ended Toronto’s hopes for another victory.
Coach Randy Carlyle said after the game.
"Gut-wrenching. Everything went our way early, and then everything went against us late in the hockey game."
Lightning (37-36-7, 81 pts)
Tampa Bay Lightning had their two-game winning run ended on Wednesday, after a 5-2 defeat to Eastern Conference basement team, Montreal Canadiens.
The Lightning were under the cosh from the start and were down 3-1 at the end of the second period. The Canadiens turned the s***w even further in the second and scored twice more to take home a comfortable win.
Coach Guy Boucher said after the game.
"This was probably our second-worst game of the year - if not, the first one. We had been fighting extremely hard with a lot of victories. A few guys came back (from injury) lately and we fought really hard, but tonight we didn't compete. We didn't come out like we normally do."
Predictions
Toronto Maple Leafs will be favourites to win at home.
Sum of goals will be less than six.
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