Lightning Looking More Like Two-Time Defending Champions
What a crazy series this has been. Just when it looks like one of the teams has taken control, the other one responds with an emphatic victory.
The best of seven series is now a best of three beginning with Tuesday’s Game 5 in Toronto.
Keep an eye on the first period. Tampa Bay has outscored Toronto 5-0 in the opening 20 minutes in its two wins. In the two games won by the Maple Leafs, Toronto outscored Tampa Bay 3-0 in the first period.
Toronto comes in at +1000 in the odds to win the Stanley Cup championship followed closely by Tampa Bay at +1200. Those odds are nearly identical to what they were a week ago.
Let’s check the latest NHL lines, stats, injury reports, and NHL odds for Lightning vs Maple Leafs. We’ve plenty of NHL picks and predictions.
Lightning Displays Scoring Depth to Even Series
Tampa Bay doesn’t lack for star power with Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov, Ondrej Palat and Brayden Point all proven point producers in the postseason. The Lightning didn’t win back-to-back NHL titles by putting all of their eggs into one basket.
That scoring depth was on display once again as Tampa Bay got two goals from Ross Colton and one each from Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Pat Maroon in a 7-3 win to even the series at 2-2.
#BOLTSWIN GAME 4!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/lO7CSYnpYT
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) May 9, 2022
Maroon’s goal was his 20th in 125 Stanley Cup playoff games. Colton made his postseason debut in 2021. He had four goals in 23 games including the only goal in a 1-0 win in Game 5 to clinch the championship.
The best part of the win is that Tampa Bay was able to spread out the minutes. Point was the only forward for the Lightning to play more than 20 minutes with 11 of the 12 forwards on the ice for at least 10 minutes.
Tampa Bay improved to 17-0 in the playoffs following a loss.
“This group has proven it knows what it takes at this time of the year,” Stamkos said. “We know how to respond. Now that we’ve done that twice in the series, let’s go out and grab the series lead. That has to be the mentality.”
The Las Vegas odds total has gone over 11 of Tampa Bay’s 13 games.
Maple Leafs Reboot Shake off Last Performance
It was all there for the taking for the Toronto Maple Leafs. A win on Sunday would have given the Maple Leafs a commanding 3-1 lead on the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning.
Tampa Bay scored on its first shot of the game and before many of the Toronto faithful were comfortable in their seats, the Lightning led by two goals. Tampa Bay led 5-0 at one point en route to the 7-3 victory.
It didn’t help that the Maple Leafs sent Tampa Bay on the power play eight times. Including a double minor to Ondrej Kase, seven of the 11 minor penalties called in the second and third periods went against Toronto. It’s pretty hard to come back from an early deficit when you are killing penalties.
It was a rough outing for Toronto goalie Jack Campbell who allowed five goals on 16 shots before being pulled in favor of Erik Kallgren.
“They scored on their first shot and took it to us,” Campbell said. “For me, I just look in the mirror and learn from what I did wrong.”
Campbell has a 7.17 goals-against average and a save percentage of .800 in the two losses compared to a 1.00 goals-against average and a .966 save percentage in the two wins.
Four of Toronto’slast five games have gone over the NHL betting lines total.
Lightning vs Maple Leafs Head-to-Head
Good luck to those who bet online trying to make sense of what has happened in the first four games of this playoffs. This is a time of the year when one-goal games tend to be the rule rather than the exception but the margin of victory in this series has been 5, 2, 3, and 4 goals.
Tampa Bay has won five of the last eight games it has played against the Maple Leafs in Toronto although the last three one-goal contests between the teams in Toronto have gone to the home team.
This will be the sixth straight road game against Toronto when Tampa Bay is the underdog.
The best odds for the series result is with Toronto winning in seven games as that carries a payout of +225. Toronto winning in six games (+250) and Tampa Bay winning in six (+275) aren’t far behind.
Lightning vs Maple Leafs Game Information
- Game: Lightning (51-23-8 in the regular season) vs Maple Leafs (54-21-7)
- Location: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto
- Day/Time: Tuesday, May 10, 7:00 p.m. ET
- Lightning vs Maple Leafs Live Stream: NHL.TV
Lightning vs Maple Leafs Betting Lines
Lightning vs Maple Leafs Prediction
The script has been consistent with Toronto striking first only to have the defending champions from Tampa Bay even the series. The Lightning will look for a different outcome when the series returns to Toronto.
Toronto goalie Jack Campbell is 8-0-1 in his last nine games following a regulation loss and he will look to add to that number after being pulled in the last game,
The team that scores first has won each of the last six games between the Lightning and the Maple Leafs dating back to the regular season.
Tampa Bay has the most power-play opportunities in the playoffs heading to Monday’s action while Toronto is fourth so special teams could play a role once again.
Pick: Maple Leafs-130
Pick: Lightning +1½ (-235)
