Leafs fall short of first

The stars have aligned for Toronto as of late. With goalie Ben Scrivens coming off two consecutive shutouts and their best road start in 72 years it seemed nothing could shake the Leafs. Nothing, that is, except Lightning.

Toronto headed into Tampa looking for an eighth win in their first 10 road games – a feat not accomplished since 34’-35’ season. And, although they put forth a valiant effort in the dying minutes of the third, the Leafs couldn’t push past top-scoring Tampa dropping to the Lightning 4-2.

Maybe three games in four nights was too much for the boys in Blue – Toronto spent most of the match (save the last 57 seconds) sleeping with their skates on. Sloppy clearing and defensive mishaps resulted in Tampa goals. Despite being out-shot 16-10 after the second, the Lightning still held a 2-1 lead and widened the gap in the third. Scrivens was forced to watch the game end from the bench pulled in the last 10 minutes after allowing four goals on 14 shots.

Toronto will try to get their groove back at home Thursday hosting the Sabres.