Bolts fall to Leafs in road trip finale

The Lightning wrapped up a three-game road trip on Tuesday with a 2-1 loss to the Maple Leafs in Toronto.

All things considered, the Bolts were fortunate to escape the first period trailing by just a goal. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 16 of the 17 shots Toronto threw his way in the opening 20 minutes, only surrendering a power play goal to William Nylander. On the other end of the ice, Tampa Bay couldn't muster much offense, generating only six shots on net.
In the second period, the Lightning managed to flip the script, outshooting the Leafs 15-5. Even as the Bolts found their grove offensively, Frederik Andersen came up with saves on breakaways from Carter Verhaeghe and Tyler Johnson to keep Toronto in front.

The Bolts finally drew even late in the period when Ondrej Palat cleaned up the rebound of a Nikita Kucherov shot. Brayden Point started the play for the Bolts, splitting two Leafs defensemen and setting up Kucherov for the initial shot.
Auston Matthew's power play goal early in the third period would go on to stand as the game-winner. Mitch Marner found Auston Matthews wide open at the right circle for a one-timer to give the Leafs the lead for good.
The offense Tampa Bay generated in the second carried over to the third, they were just stymied by Andersen. The Leafs' goaltender stood tall in the final frame, making 12 saves to preserve Toronto's advantage.
The difference in the game proved to be special teams. The Leafs scored both their goals on the power play and held the Bolts without a goal in four opportunities with the man advantage.
The Bolts are now headed home to begin a three-game homestand. Up first is a matchup vs. the Flyers on Thursday night.
Scoring Summary
1st Period
TOR | 12:42 William Nylander (31) - John Tavares, Mitchell Marner - PPG
2nd Period
TBL | 15:22 Ondrej Palat (17) - Nikita Kucherov
3rd Period
TOR | 3:38 Auston Matthews (47) - Mitch Marner, John Tavares - PPG