Vasilevskiy's 48 saves help Lightning top Maple Leafs, win eighth in row

TAMPA -- Andrei Vasilevskiy made 48 saves in his return from injury to help the Tampa Bay Lightning to their eighth straight win, 4-1 against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Amalie Arena on Thursday.

Vasilevskiy, who missed 14 games after fracturing his left foot at practice Nov. 14, tied Ben Bishop for the Lightning record for saves in a game. Bishop made 48 against the Carolina Hurricanes on Jan. 19, 2014.
"I tried to survive the first period and the second too," Vasilevskiy said. "They're a good team and they played very well. They were a very good test for us, and the guys scored important goals at the end of the second period."
WATCH: [All Maple Leafs vs. Lightning highlights]
Alex Killorn and Tyler Johnson scored 34 seconds apart in the second period to put Tampa Bay ahead by three.
Nikita Kucherov and Anthony Cirelli each had a goal and an assist for Lightning (25-7-1), who have the best record in the NHL. Tampa Bay is on its longest winning streak since it won nine games in a row Feb. 12-March 5, 2016.
Kasperi Kapanen scored for the Maple Leafs (21-10-1), who have lost three of their past four games. Frederik Andersen made 17 saves.
"[Vasilevskiy] played unbelievable," Toronto forward Auston Matthews said. "In the end, he won them the game. I thought we played well. We had tons of chances. You know they are going to get chances, and they capitalized on a couple of theirs."

Vasilevskiy made a toe save on the goal line against Patrick Marleau two minutes into the third period to keep it a three-goal game.
"He was the best player on the ice for us by a country mile," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said.

At 6:32 of the second period and trailing by one goal, the Maple Leafs went on a power play and spent the entire two minutes in the Lightning zone, but Vasilevskiy made eight saves.
Toronto went 0-for-6 on the power play.
"I thought we had good chances," Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. "I liked our effort tonight. Obviously, the score is disappointing, but the way we played is not one bit disappointing."
Tampa Bay killed two more Toronto power plays in the second before Killorn made it 3-1 at 19:24 and Johnson scored with two seconds left to make it 4-1.

"That was the momentum swing right there," Lightning forward Ryan Callahan said. "Killing off the penalties was big, and then to grab two like that deflates the other team and lifts us up."
Kapanen gave the Maple Leafs a 1-0 lead at 5:26 of the first period when he scored unassisted off a turnover by Kucherov.
"It was a great team that we just played against, but other than the little collapse in the second period, we were on top of them," Kapanen said. "[Vasilevskiy] is a big guy, he covers a lot of the net, and he made those big saves."

Cirelli tied it 1-1 with a shorthanded goal at 8:20. He has scored five times during a four-game goal streak.
"I was lucky to get a little poke there, and [Callahan] made a heck of a play," Cirelli said. "I tried to make a move and it went in."
Kucherov gave the Lightning a 2-1 lead with a power-play goal at 5:31 of the second period. Andersen caught the shot in his glove, but the Situation Room initiated a video review and determined the puck completely crossed the goal line.

They said it

"We did everything but put the puck in the back of the net. We did a lot of good things, but obviously you have to find a way to put at least one in. Close doesn't get it done in this league." -- Maple Leafs forward John Tavares on going 0-for-6 on the power play
"We can play better, we know that. They peppered us pretty good. We took too many (penalty) minutes, but we found a way to get the two points." -- Lightning forward Ryan Callahan

Need to know

Cirelli has three shorthanded goals this season. ... Matthews had his six-game point streak end. ... Lightning forward Mathieu Joseph was a late scratch with a lower-body injury. He is day to day. ... The Maple Leafs had 15 shots on goal on the power play. ... Kucherov has 29 points (six goals, 23 assists) in the past 15 games. ... Marleau played his 738th consecutive regular-season game, passing Jay Bouwmeester for the seventh-longest streak in NHL history.

What's next

Maple Leafs: At the Florida Panthers on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; CBC, SN1, CITY, FS-F, NHL.TV)
Lightning: At the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday (7 p.m. ET; SN, TVAS, SUN, NHL.TV)