TAMPA, Fla. — Something has felt different about the Lightning the past few months. They haven’t been dominant. They haven’t had that familiar swagger. It’s that feeling when champions come down to earth.
But in their 8-1 win over Toronto on Thursday night at Amalie Arena — a team they could face in the first round of the playoffs — the Lightning played with toughness and a sense of urgency that they’ve struggled to tap recently. The result: one of their best 60-minute efforts in the final months of the regular season.
Along the way, captain Steven Stamkos became the Lightning’s all-time points leader, scoring like he has for so many years — a one-timer from the left circle on the power play for a 3-0 lead with 7:22 left in the second.
Shortly after Stamkos scored his record 954th point, a tribute video played on the arena video board. It was narrated by Marty St. Louis, the Lightning Hall of Famer whose record Stamkos surpassed and who served as a mentor for Stamkos in his first six years in the league.
The Lightning’s eight goals were a season-high, and their margin of victory was their largest this season.
Their final regular-season meeting with the Leafs was missing significant star power. The league’s leading goal scorer, Toronto’s Auston Matthews, and Lightning top-line center Brayden Point were both out with mysterious injuries.
Even without Point — a surprise scratch with lower-body injury and considered day to day — the Lightning recaptured their mojo despite having to go with 11 forwards and seven defensemen.
Coming off a four-goal loss in their last game with Toronto earlier this month, the Lightning needed some success against the Leafs, especially if they are going to meet in the playoffs.
More importantly, they needed to get back to the game that won back-to-back Stanley Cups. That means a physical, hard-nosed, defensive-minded style of play that wins closely contested games.
With the win, the Lightning (47-22-8, 102 points) moved within six points of the second-place Leafs (51-21-6, 108) in the Atlantic Division with five games left in the regular season. Tampa Bay leads Boston (47-25-5, 99 points), which lost 4-0 to Pittsburgh on Thursday.
One game after losing momentum with a woeful second period in Tuesday’s home loss to the Red Wings, the Lightning took over the game in the second period on Thursday with four goals.
Despite being outshot 14-7 in a scoreless opening period, the Lightning dominated in zone time. And they built on that in the second.
Alex Killorn started the scoring with a redirection in front of the net with 3:54 into the period. Ross Colton then scored with 9:22 left in the second on a score created by strong forecheck play.
After Corey Perry took the puck in the Toronto zone, it landed on Nick Paul’s stick. Paul found Colton open along the far post. Colton added another goal in the third, giving him his second straight two-goal game.
After Stamkos scored his record-setting goal, Nikita Kucherov followed with a goal on the power play. Ondrej Palat put the Lightning up 5-0 by redirecting Mikhail Sergachev’s shot on net. Killorn scored his second goal of the game 4:33 into the third.
Kucherov also reached 600 career points, becoming the sixth-fastest player to reach that milestone.
