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# Toronto Maple Leafs Game Chat: is this a first round preview against Tampa Bay?
- URL: https://www.pensionplanpuppets.com/toronto-maple-leafs-game-chat-is-this-a-first-round-preview-against-tampa-bay/
- Published: 2022-04-21T20:05:43.000Z
- Updated: 2022-04-21T20:05:43.000Z
- Description: Are the Bolts all they’re cracked up to be?
- Author: Hardev
- Tags: Game Coverage, #chorus, #Import 2023-04-05 11:43

Toronto Maple Leafs @ Tampa Bay Lightning: Game #78  
**8:00 p.m. ET** at Amalie Arena  
TV/Streaming: TSN4  
Opponent’s SB Nation Site: Raw Charge

The Leafs are playing their fifth last game of the season as the 2022 playoffs loom ever larger. This is the time of the year when the regular season loses most meaning, and with Auston Matthews out with an injury, there’s no race to 60 happening right now. However, four of the final five games down the stretch are against playoff teams, all of whom the Leafs could face in the first or second round (if they get there).

Toronto is poised to finish second in the Atlantic Division and face either Tampa Bay or Boston. Two of their other games are against Florida and Washington, who will likely play each other in the first round and the winner playing the Leafs if they can get four wins. Therefore these next nine days are more-or-less preview days, and a last chance to see some opponents before things get very real.

First up, the Tampa Bay Lightning.

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#### Related

[Toronto Maple Leafs at Tampa Bay Lightning Preview and Game Day Thread](https://www.rawcharge.com/2022/4/21/23034096/toronto-maple-leafs-at-tampa-bay-lightning-preview-and-game-day-thread-starting-lines-how-to-watch?ref=pensionplanpuppets.com)

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The Bolts are a good team, but they have struggled this season compared to what they were expected to do following back-to-back Stanley Cups. Last year, they rolled into the playoffs with a better shot share and one of the best defenses in the league by expected goals (plus Andrei Vasilevskiy to mop up anything that got through).

This year, the defense is worse — thanks in large part to the team losing their defensive third line and the replacements not having the same impact, and a slightly worse offense, this time with Nikita Kucherov. They also still have Andrei Vasilevskiy mopping up a large portion of shots each night.

The Lightning have largely turned into a team with goaltending at the forefront, success when the stars show up, and a lethal power play when it wants to be on. Their big struggle this year has been getting a consistent effort game to game, period to period. It’s seriously put them in bad situations all year. That said, many believe that’ll all be fixed once the pressure of the playoffs come back, and I think they’re right.

On the Leafs side, the team is still without Auston Matthews, who will be missing his third straight game. Erik Källgren is getting the start tonight, with Jack Campbell playing Florida on Saturday. This won’t be two teams at their best playing each other tonight, but what will be interesting is seeing what the supporting cast can do on both sides and what type of game we might expect to see for 4-7 games in May.

> Sheldon Keefe confirms Auston Matthews and Jake Muzzin are out tonight   
>  
> Coach stresses there’s no extra concern with Matthews … he is close to playing and looked good this morning [@TSN\_Edge](https://twitter.com/TSN%5FEdge?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=pensionplanpuppets.com)
> 
> — Mark Masters (@markhmasters) [April 21, 2022](https://twitter.com/markhmasters/status/1517172166445477889?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=pensionplanpuppets.com)

> Kallgren vs Tampa  
> Campbell vs Florida   
> Kallgren vs Washington
> 
> — luke fox (@lukefoxjukebox) [April 21, 2022](https://twitter.com/lukefoxjukebox/status/1517172920262483968?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=pensionplanpuppets.com)

### Leafs Lines

Ilya Mikheyev - John Tavares - Mitch Marner  
William Nylander - Alexander Kerfoot - Pierre Engvall  
Michael Bunting - David Kämpf - Colin Blackwell  
Nick Abruzzese - Jason Spezza - Wayne Simmonds

Morgan Rielly - Ilya Lyubushkin  
T.J. Brodie - Justin Holl  
Mark Giordano - Timothy Liljegren

Erik Källgren - confirmed starter  
Jack Campbell

### Lightning Lines

Nick Paul - Brayden Point - Nikita Kucherov  
Ondrej Palat - Steven Stamkos - Ross Colton  
Alex Killorn - Anthony Cirelli - Brandon Hagel  
Patrick Maroon - Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - Corey Perry

Victor Hedman - Jan Rutta  
Ryan McDonagh - Erik Cernak  
Mikhail Sergachev - Zach Bogosian

Andrei Vasilevskiy - confirmed starter  
Brian Elliott