Maple Leafs locked in as Lightning pushed into ‘fight or flight’ mode

Maple Leaf legend Wendel Clark says the team needs to do one very important thing in order to win tonight and advance to the second round of the NHL playoffs. Plus, Richard Southern looks at how much some fans are paying for a seat at the game.

By Luke Fox, Sportsnet

Posted April 27, 2023 1:50 pm.

Last Updated April 27, 2023 1:57 pm.

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.”

Ryan O’Reilly: “They’re going to throw everything they have at us… By no means is this series over.”

— luke fox (@lukefoxjukebox) April 27, 2023

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 as 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 an 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) in 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 a disadvantage for you. At times, the way the crowd feels,” Cooper says. “You can feel it. You can feel it works 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 differently or we just aren’t doing an 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 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.”