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The Toronto Maple Leafs look to break a three-game losing slide when they play host to Steven Stamkos and the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight at the Air Canada Centre (7:30 p.m. EST, Sportsnet One).

The preseason Atlantic Division favourites, Tampa Bay enters the game 4-1-0 through five and are coming off of a 4-1 win over the Ottawa Senators.

The 1-1-3 Maple Leafs enter the game both scoring and allowing 3.6 goals a game through five games (4th in the NHL in goals for, 23rd in goals against). The goaltending and the defensive zone play is going to have to step up against a four-line Lightning team that is rolling three high-quality centers over the boards in Steven Stamkos, Tyler Johnson and Valtteri Filppula. It should be a good test for a Leafs team that has competitive center depth for the first time in many years. Even with last change, there will be no hiding from quality competition for any of the Leafs lines against a deep Lightning squad.

The young Leafs have consistently been exciting and frustrating all within the same game, winning just once in five outings — and losing just once in regulation — due to four relinquished leads in third periods. Mike Babcock spoke on the lost leads after today’s morning skate, calling it less of a single-cause issue and more of a case of different things going wrong at different times:

I think each one of those games has been different. When you put them all together, it’s easy from afar to say they’re all the same. They haven’t even been close to the same. We’ve got to be better so we don’t have to answer the questions anymore. So that’s the key part. But, obviously, the better Naz plays, the better we are.

The specific mention of Kadri’s name there is in reference to what was the worst outing from his line so far this season against Chicago on Saturday — they conceded three goals at even strength and were outpossessed heavily by Chicago’s top two lines. That partly inspired a change in personnel via the waiver wire on Monday. Veteran Milan Michalek was waived and sent to the Toronto Marlies, while Ben Smith was claimed from Colorado. The net result is that Connor Brown will move up from the fourth line to Nazem Kadri’s right wing, while Smith joins the fourth line in Brown’s place and enters the penalty-killing rotation.

The Kadri line, on paper, should play faster and gel better with the addition of Brown on the right wing. It goes from a line of three left-handed shots to having two properly-sided wingers; that should help with puck movement, and the addition of Brown’s speed and competitiveness on the forecheck opposite Leo Komarov’s prowess in that area of the game should be a handful for the opposition to break out against. The hope is that the line will be capable of taking care of its own zone and sustaining long cycles in the offensive end against the opposition’s top lines.

The Maple Leafs are still searching for the right mix on defence and it looks as though the pairings will switch up again tonight based on the practice pairings: Nikita Zaitsev skated next to Morgan Rielly, Connor Carrick joined Matt Hunwick, and Roman Polak partnered up with Jake Gardiner. Babcock has been hesitant, understandably, to overexpose Zaitsev early in his transition to the NHL, but on a blue line group that is missing defensive assignments routinely, he’s arguably been the team’s most consistent defenceman in terms of taking care of his own end.

As for the goaltending question marks entering the game, we’ll let Babcock take it away:

This is an organization where goaltending has been an issue for a number of years.

Babcock: Well, it’s five games in, isn’t it?  If you look around the stats in the league… Let’s just take a deep breath here.

It’s been a pattern for this organization for quite a number of years.

Babcock: I wouldn’t know. I’ve only been here for one, so…

And the guys on Saturday night said the goaltending has been “lousy” this year and I’m just wondering…

Babcock: Who did?

The guys on Saturday night. Don Cherry. Grapes.

Babcock: Oh, okay. Now I know where I’m getting my facts from. Here we go. Come on. Let’s move on. What’s next here? Holy shit.

No, seriously. It’s been an issue for this market probably since Ed Belfour left.

Babcock: But I’m not dealing with that. This is what I’d tell you. We think we’ve got a really good goaltender. At the World Cup, I had three outstanding goaltenders. They all talked about how much time it usually takes you to get ready. Our guy didn’t have that opportunity because of his injury. We’re real comfortable with him. Do we think he’s played as well as he’s capable of playing? No. Do we think he’s going to? Yes. Do we think we’ve got to look after the empty-net goals that we give up? Yes. I’m really comfortable with our goaltending situation.

The Leafs and Lightning rank fifth and third, respectively, in shot attempt percentage in score-close situations through the opening five games.


Steven Stamkos on playing his first game in Toronto since ‘The Decision’

Mark Masters: First game in Toronto since signing with Tampa Bay, a lot of Leaf fans were hoping you’d sign in Toronto, what sort of reaction are you expecting?

I’m not expecting anything. I go out there and play. Like I said, this is a place that I have a lot of fun coming to play because of the people that I know here and who (don’t) get a chance to see me play very often throughout the season. Its always fun. We had a couple of days off. Saw a couple of friends and family. People are entitled to do whatever they want. I made the decision to say with the team that drafted and brought me up as an 18-year-old kid. It’s my second home now. Like I said, there are no regrets and I’m looking forward to hopefully winning another game here on a road trip.
– Steven Stamkos


Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lines

Forwards

Leo Komarov – Nazem Kadri – Connor Brown
van Riemsdyk – Tyler Bozak – Mitch Marner
Zach Hyman – Auston Matthews – William Nylander
Matt Martin – Peter Holland – Ben Smith

Defencemen

Morgan Rielly – Nikita Zaitsev
Jake Gardiner – Roman Polak
Matt Hunwick – Connor Carrick

Scratched: Frank Corrado, Martin Marincin, Seth Griffith
Injured: Josh Leivo

Goaltenders

Starter: Frederik Andersen (Confirmed)
Backup: Jhonas Enroth


Tampa Bay Lightning Projected Lines

Forwards

Vladislav Namestnikov – Steven Stamkos – Nikita Kucherov
Ondrej Palat – Tyler Johnson – Jonathan Drouin
Alex Killorn – Valtteri Filppula – Brayden Point
Cedric Paquette – Brian Boyle – J.T. Brown

Injured: Ryan Callahan

Defence

Victor Hedman – Anton Stralman
Jason Garrison – Andrej Sustr
Nikita Nesterov – Braydon Coburn

Goaltenders

Starter: Ben Bishop (Confirmed)
Backup: Andrei Vasilevskiy