Game five: Tampa Bay Lightning (3-1) at Toronto Maple Leafs (3-2)

Time: 7:30 p.m. EST

Location: Scotiabank Arena

TV/Stream/Radio: NHLN, BSSUN, Prime (Canada), TVAS, 102.5 The Bone

Odds: Blitz +124

It would be wrong to say that the Tampa Bay Lightning have a rivalry with the Toronto Maple Leafs. After all, the Leafs have been around for a million years and they have enough other teams that can be considered real rivals, be it Boston or Montreal. Since both the Lightning and Leafs have been in the same league since the 2013-14 season and both franchises have had success in recent seasons, they have, shall we say, developed a story.

Both organizations have become perennial playoff contenders. Both have legitimate Hall of Famer superstars on their roster. Both like to score goals. Both have taken a casual approach to keeping pucks away from the net at times. Both wear blue and white. Both have a discerning fan base (although Toronto is slightly larger).

Granted, the Lightning have something the Leafs don’t – a Stanley Cup celebration broadcast on color television.

It’s also pretty tight on the ice. Looking back at the 2018/19 season, the numbers are pretty close, especially when it comes to goals scored and goals allowed. The direct duel was quite close as the teams had divided their 18 encounters. Officially, the Bolts are 9-6-3, have scored 68 goals and conceded 55. Overall, here’s how teams performed during the Lightning’s Stanley Cup window:

The postseason wasn’t quite as close. While they have made the postseason just as many times, the Lightning have been far more successful. They have played almost twice as many games and have 32 more wins.

The two teams played two exciting series against each other, with Toronto having the slightest advantages in wins (7:6) and goals scored (47:44). The Lightning also have the distinction of being the only team the Leafs have beaten in a playoff series in over two decades. So if you’re staying current, since the 2004-04 season the Leafs have won two playoff series and the Lightning have won three Stanley Cups.

Facing each other in consecutive postseasons increased antipathy toward one another, which is what the NHL sought when it switched its playoff seeding to a bracket system. The animosity that builds in the playoff series when real stakes are at stake tends to spill over into regular season matchups as well.

So tonight’s game should be fun. It’s also the only game scheduled in the NHL tonight, so all eyes will be on these two. It’s always fun when the national media arrives at a regular season game and tells us everything we should know about our favorite team. So expect plenty of opinions on the Bolts and Leafs throughout the day today and tomorrow.

The Lightning are looking to bounce back from a rocky game against the Senators on Saturday, where their power play continued to cause problems and they struggled with Ottawa’s speed early in the night. You want to make sure they are handling the puck cleanly and moving it out of the zone efficiently. Giving Toronto multiple chances in the offensive zone is a sure way to have a bad night.

Toronto lost its season-opening game against Montreal (oh no, the sky is falling!) and then won its next three games (start planning the parade!) before losing its final game to the Rangers 4-1 (fire All of you out!). Mitch Marner has gone from being the guy everyone wanted to trade this summer to leading the team in scoring with five points (he’s tied with Max Domi), while William Nylander leads the team in goals with three in five games.

Injuries in net have meant they have to rely on a duo of Anthony Stolarz and Dennis Hildeby. The pair played well, with Stolarz posting a 1.97 GAA in his four starts, while Hildeby picked up one win and allowed just 2 goals on 23 shots in his only appearance. Joseph Woll is in day-to-day life, at least according to new bench boss Craig Berube, but the Bolts will likely see Stolarz tonight.

Berube was brought in to make the Leafs a little more disciplined, and it appears he has accomplished that in the first week of the season. He makes sure they aren’t complacent and pay attention to the little details. Let’s face it, a disciplined Leafs team isn’t nearly as fun as the team that was caught arguing on the bench during the playoff loss to Boston.

Tonight should be a pretty fast-paced game as both teams look to establish themselves as favorites in the Atlantic Division to start the season. Whatever the result, you can expect a close game. In the last two regular seasons, only two of the seven matches were decided by more than two goals.

Potential lines

Lightning potential lines:

Forward:

Jake Guentzel – Brayden Point – Nikita Kucherov

Brandon Hagel – Anthony Cirelli – Nick Paul

Mikey Eyssimont – Conor Geekie – Conor Sheary

Zemgus Girgensons – Luke Glendening – Mitchell Chaffee

Defense:

Victor Hedman – JJ Moser

Ryan McDonagh – Erik Cernak

Darren Raddysh – Nick Perbix

Goalie:

Andrei Vasilevskiy

Possible Toronto Maple Leafs lines:

Forward:

Matthew Knies – Auston Matthews – Mitchell Marner

Bobby McMann – Max Domi – William Nylander

Pontus Holmberg – John Tavares – Nick Robertson

Steve Lorentz – David Kampf – Ryan Reaves

Defense:

Morgan Reilly – Chris Tanev

Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Jake McCabe

Simon Benoit – Conor Timmins

goalie

Anthony Stolarz