TAMPA, Fla. — The Lightning’s final regular-season meeting with the Maple Leafs wasn’t representative of the lineups that will be seen when the teams meet next week in their first-round playoff rematch.
Toronto’s big guns, Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, were among the Leafs scratches who watched from the press box. After some roster-cap difficulties, Toronto called up goaltender Joseph Woll to start Tuesday night at Amalie Arena.
But there still was a lot of purpose to Tuesday’s game, especially for a Lightning team focused on playing better heading into the postseason. It gave both teams an opportunity to send messages about what to expect when the game gets tighter and more physical under the bright lights of the postseason.
But in their penultimate game of the regular season, the Lightning (45-30-6) lost to the Leafs, 4-3, for their fourth straight loss. Their regular season ends Thursday at home against Detroit before Tampa Bay and Toronto meet again next week with Game 1 in Toronto likely on Tuesday.
There were plenty of dropped gloves and post-whistle skirmishes between the teams, but the Lightning wanted to get back to their winning ways, having allowed 19 goals in their past three contests.
But the Lightning caught themselves on the wrong side of the special-teams game. A pair of ill-timed penalties — a tripping call on Nikita Kucherov after the whistle and Mikey Eyssimont’s unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty — put Tampa Bay at a 4-on-3 disadvantage, and Calle Jarnkrok’s power-play goal gave Toronto a 3-2 lead.
After Ryan O’Reilly scored to put the Leafs up 4-2, Mikhail Sergachev answered 76 seconds later, rifling a shot from the slot to make it a one-goal game again with 6:11 to play in regulation.
The Lightning had their own chances on the power play, but were 0 for 8 with the man advantage, including a 6-on-4 power play in the game’s final minutes with the net emptied for an extra attacker.
It appeared that Pat Maroon had put the Lightning up 2-1 with 4:12 remaining in the first period, but Toronto’s challenge for goaltender interference was successful. Corey Perry was being pushed back into the paint by John Tavares as the two jostled for position, but it didn’t appear as though Perry made contact with Moll. The Leafs (49-21-11) scored 13 seconds later to take the lead.
Former Lightning defenseman Luke Schenn, one of several Toronto trade-deadline upgrades, scored the goal that put the Leafs up 2-1. Before the end of the period, he ran Pat Maroon into the boards, prompting a fight with his former teammate. Maroon received an extra penalty for roughing.
Maroon had limped down the tunnel earlier in the game, but returned. After his fight with Schenn ended his first period, he didn’t return.
Rookie defenseman Nick Perbix evened the score at the 5:21 mark in the second period, jumping in to pounce on a rebound at the top of the left circle and beating Woll for his fifth goal of the season.
