If the division-leading Maple Leafs have become a measuring stick for the Lightning through three meetings this season, Tampa Bay has fallen well short.

And if Toronto stands in the Lightning’s way when it matters most in the postseason, Tampa Bay has a lot of ground to make up over the next three months to make it past the Leafs.

The Lightning (25-17-3, 53 points) opened their four-game road trip with a 5-3 loss at Scotiabank Arena, losing for the sixth time in their last seven road games.

The Lightning are 10-11-2 away from home as they head into a quick turnaround Tuesday in Montreal.

With a second-half schedule heavy on Eastern Conference opponents, every head-to-head meeting with an Atlantic Division foe is doubly important. The Maple Leafs are now nine points ahead of the third-place Lightning even though they’ve played three more games.

“We know what they’re all about, they know what we’re all about,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “This year, they’re just a little bit better than us right now.”

Chase is on after costly breakaways

For the eighth time in the last 13 games, the Lightning allowed the first goal of the game. Auston Matthews scored on a breakaway created when defenseman Max Crozier was caught up in the play, leading to a 2-on-1 the other way.

Matthews’ goal, which came just 4:06 into the game, forced the Lightning to chase the game again. Had it not been for backup goaltender Jonas Johansson, Tampa Bay’s deficit could have been larger; Toronto outshot Tampa Bay 11-6 in the period.

Lightning star winger Nikita Kucherov, minus-3 on the night, was trying to make a pass at the Toronto blue line, but his turnover led to a breakaway for William Nylander that he buried for his 28th goal of the season and a 2-0 Toronto lead.

“It’s tough when you’re chasing the game,” Cooper said. “I thought that too many times in the past couple of weeks here, we’re basically playing a two-period game, and we’ve gotten away with it a ton. … Tonight, it was a two-period game again for us, and against good teams like that, you don’t have much of a chance.”

Nick Paul does his part

Lightning forward Nick Paul, who landed on the wing with Brayden Point and Jake Guentzel after Cooper shuffled his lines early, scored two goals, including one that cut the Toronto lead to one with 3:53 left in the second period when he tipped in Darren Raddysh’s shot toward the net from along the right wall.

“We were just playing more simple hockey, putting pucks behind them and working,” Paul said. “We weren’t trying to pass our way through the zone. We’ve just got to start the game with that.”

And after fighting through a second period in which they were tilting the ice, Toronto’s Matthew Knies scored a back-breaking goal with 23 seconds left in the period to send Tampa Bay to the dressing room at intermission down two goals.

In the third, Raddysh scored on a slap shot from the right point off an offensive-zone faceoff win to cut the lead to one again. But Knies scored just 2:02 later on the power play.

Late pressure doesn’t pan out

The Lightning didn’t get a power play until the third period, and Paul scored his second goal — both coming in front of the net — on the man-advantage, redirecting Brandon Hagel’s shot attempt from the right circle.

Down 4-3, the Lightning put relentless pressure on the net in the final minutes, but couldn’t score a tying goal.

Brayden Point’s backhanded shot hit off the post, and Toronto defenseman Chris Tanev saved a goal, swiping the puck away before Guentzel could take a shot at it along the opposite post.

Hedman and Paul also had chances to score before the Lightning pulled Johansson for an extra attacker, which failed after Mitch Marner’s empty-net goal with 65 seconds remaining.

Up next

at Canadiens, 7 p.m. Tuesday TV/radio: FanDuel Sports Sun; 102.5-FM

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Conclusion:

Overall, the Lightning faced a tough challenge against the Maple Leafs but showed determination in their performance. With key players like Nick Paul stepping up, there is hope for improvement in upcoming games.

FAQs:

1. Will the Lightning be able to bounce back from this loss?

2. How important are divisional matchups for the Lightning in the second half of the season?