The Backcheck: Bolts unable to overcome Maple Leafs despite late rally

The Tampa Bay Lightning fell just short of a comeback in Saturday’s Atlantic Division clash with the Toronto Maple Leafs at AMALIE Arena despite a valiant push, a barrage of goals and a new franchise record for captain Victor Hedman.

A pair of second-period goals 33 seconds apart gave the Toronto Maple Leafs a boost in a game that ended as a 5-3 loss for the Lightning, who dropped to 12-9-2 this season with the falter.

Toronto forward Matthew Knies scored 7:13 into the game, deflecting a Chris Tanev shot past Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy.

Tanev’s first goal of the year came 8:06 into the second period from near the top of the right circle after teammate Mitch Marner had gathered the puck along the left sidewall and fed Tanev following a battle on the boards.

Nicholas Robertson scored 33 seconds after Tanev when the forward’s shot near the bottom of the left faceoff circle tucked itself under the short-side corner of the crossbar for a 3-0 Toronto lead.

“It’s a deflator,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said of the rapid goals against. "When we got down there, we kind of went into a little lull, which you don't want to see in your team, but I guess in a way it's understandable. There's probably a little frustration setting in because we weren't scoring. There's no moral victories in this game. ... but I've said all along about this team, they don't quit."

That no-quit mentality showed after John Tavares extended Toronto’s lead to 4-0 in the final minute of the second period.

Tampa Bay’s Mikey Eyssimont scored his third goal in his last four games 11:29 into the third period to prevent the shutout for Toronto goalie Joseph Woll, who stopped 38 of 41 shots in the win. Eyssimont wound up to bury a one-timer at the right faceoff dot, finishing a feed from defenseman Darren Raddysh.

Forward Jake Guentzel pulled the Lightning within two goals of the Maple Leafs when his centering pass with 4:41 remaining in the game bounced off a Toronto defender and into the Toronto cage while the Lightning net was empty for a 6-on-5 look.

Another deflection goal–this one on the power-play off forward Cam Atkinson’s skate—cut Tampa Bay’s deficit to 4-3 with 2:22 to play.

William Nylander capped the win for Toronto on an empty-net goal with just over a minute remaining.

“We believed. After we got that first one, we pull the goalie early and get one right away. We get a power play and get another one. That is when you start feeling good,” Hedman said. …. “That is one thing we do in this room is believe, and we've proved over and over again in years past that we are able to come back. But to dig yourself a hole and be down 4-0 is not good enough and it's not up to our standards.”

Hedman assisted on each of the Guentzel and Atkinson goals for assists 589 and 590 in his NHL career. His assist on the team’s second goal moved him past former teammate Martin St. Louis to become the franchise’s all-time leader in assists.

The Lightning became the eighth NHL franchise to have a defenseman as their all-time assists leader, joining Boston (Ray Bourque), Calgary (Al MacInnis), Nashville (Roman Josi), New York Rangers (Brian Leetch), Seattle (Vince Dunn), Toronto (Borje Salming) and Vegas (Shea Theodore).

“Obviously, you didn't expect going into this league to have a record like that,” Hedman said, “but I'm going to enjoy it for a few weeks or months before Kuch (Nikita Kucherov) passes me. So, hopefully, I can keep feeding him the puck at the same time. Joking aside, to have a milestone like that is pretty huge."

Kucherov, who has 575 career assists and carries 12 goals and 22 assists for a team-high 34 points this season, missed Saturday’s game due to a day-to-day injury suffered in Friday’s 3-2 overtime win over the Nashville Predators.

Kucherov’s teammates answered his absence with a late push on a night other players stepped into new roles—forward Brandon Hagel served as an assistant captain on Saturday in place of Kucherov, 23-year-old Gage Goncalves played on the second line and forward Conor Sheary played his first NHL game since Oct. 22 after being recalled from AHL Syracuse on Saturday morning.

"I think there's opportunity that opens up for everyone. You're missing one of the best players in the world. That's obviously not a positive, but everyone's got to be a little bit better, and everyone's got to step up,” Hagel said after co-leading Tampa Bay offensively with two assists.

“Everyone has a chance to step up, get an opportunity, and that's what this league is. And I think a lot of guys did. ... I mean, there's some young guys playing some good hockey and having to take on some roles that maybe they're not used to, and they're learning. So it's only benefiting our team and they're doing a good job.”

Toronto leads the season series 2-0 after Saturday’s win. Tampa Bay will look for their first win against the Maple Leafs this season when the teams play again on Jan. 20 at Scotiabank Arena.

Tampa Bay returns to AMALIE Arena this Thursday to play the San Jose Sharks at 7 p.m.

Benjamin’s Three Stars:

1. Chris Tanev, TOR (1 G, 1 A)

2. Joseph Woll, TOR (38 saves)

3. Victor Hedman, TBL (2 A)