3 Keys: Maple Leafs at Lightning, Game 4 of Eastern 1st Round

(2A) Maple Leafs (2A) at (3A) Lightning
Eastern Conference First Round, Game 4
Toronto leads best-of-7 series 2-1
7:30 p.m. ET; TBS, CBC, SNE, SNO, SNP, TVAS, BSSUNX

TAMPA -- The Tampa Bay Lightning are optimistic Brayden Point will be in the lineup against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Amalie Arena on Monday, a game Lightning forward Patrick Maroon described as a "must-win."
Point crashed into the boards after Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly made contact with him while pursuing a puck in the third period of a 4-3 overtime loss in Game 3 Saturday that gave Toronto a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 series. The center returned to the game after spending time in the dressing room.
"Pointer should be in tonight," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. Monday. "Again, another game-time decision but hopeful he'll be OK."
That's good news for the Lightning, especially after Cooper said Sunday that Point looked like "he was in a car accident."
Point led Tampa Bay with an NHL career-high 51 goals this season and was tied for third in the League with 20 power-play goals.
The challenge for the Lightning is simple: tie the series with a victory or go down 3-1 with a loss and face the daunting task of having to win three consecutive games, two at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.
RELATED: [Complete Maple Leafs vs. Lightning series coverage]
Cooper thought his team played very well Saturday, outshooting the Maple Leafs 39-27 and spending large chunks of time in the Toronto zone.
"But it wasn't good enough," he said. "We have to be even better."
With the victory Saturday, the Maple Leafs regained home ice advantage in the series. Of course, a year ago, they led their first-round series 2-1 against Tampa Bay, which rebounded to to win three of the final four games and eliminate Toronto.
The Maple Leafs know they can put the Lightning on the ropes with a win, something they failed to do last season.
"They're going to come hard," said Toronto defenseman Luke Schenn, who helped Tampa Bay win the Stanley Cup in 2020 and 2021. "We know what to expect."
Teams that take a 3-1 lead in a best-of-7 series hold a series record of 299-31 (.906), including a 3-1 mark in the playoffs last year.
Here are 3 keys to Game 4:

1. Intensify the forecheck

Despite the loss, the Lightning were outstanding on the forecheck in Game 3. The Maple Leafs? Not so much. Center Ryan O'Reilly said Toronto was too tentative in that regard and expects to see a better commitment to that area of the game from himself and his teammates.
Indeed, the Maple Leafs looked slow at times when attempting to pressure Lightning puck carriers, resulting in Tampa Bay carrying the play for much of the game. Toronto's goal is to increase time in the offensive zone; for that to happen, its forecheck must improve.

2. If it ain't broke, don't fix it

Cooper was pleased with the intensity the Lightning showed in Game 3 and wants them to keep it up, this time with better results. Forward Russ Colton agreed, saying Tampa Bay doesn't need to change much other than the scoreboard.
The Lightning had the Maple Leafs on their heels for much of the second period and overtime, only to lose on Rielly's goal at 5:04.
"We didn't get some of the bounces to go our way," Colton said. "But for us there were a lot of positives to take out of that game."

3. Zone clearance blues

One area Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe wants to see improvement in is the Maple Leafs' ability to get the puck out of their zone. The Lightning spent far too much time being able to successfully cycle pucks in and around the Maple Leafs net in Game 3; the defense pair of T.J. Brodie and Jake McCabe specifically had issues clearing the puck, with Keefe saying they "had a rough night."
Sometimes simple is better, especially with Tampa Bay's penchant of filling potential Toronto passing lanes. Sometimes banging pucks off the glass is the best way of clearing the zone.
"We just need to be quicker in getting pucks out," O'Reily said. "It sounds simple but they did a good job on us. We need to be more efficient."

Maple Leafs projected lineup

Calle Jarnkrok -- Auston Matthews -- Mitch Marner
Alex Kerfoot -- John Tavares -- William Nylander
Matthew Knies -- Ryan O'Reilly -- Noel Acciari
Zach Aston-Reese -- David Kampf -- Sam Lafferty
Jake McCabe -- TJ Brodie
Mark Giordano -- Justin Holl
Morgan Rielly -- Luke Schenn
Ilya Samsonov
Joseph Woll
Scratched: Erik Gustafsson, Timothy Liljegren, Conor Timmins, Wayne Simmonds, Erik Kallgren
Injured: Jake Muzzin (neck), Victor Mete (upper body), Nicholas Robertson (shoulder), Carl Dahlstrom (shoulder), Matt Murray (head)
Suspended: Michael Bunting

Lightning projected lineup

Steven Stamkos -- Brayden Point -- Nikita Kucherov
Brandon Hagel -- Anthony Cirelli -- Alex Killorn
Ross Colton -- Nick Paul -- Tanner Jeannot
Patrick Maroon -- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare -- Corey Perry
Victor Hedman -- Nick Perbix
Mikhail Sergachev -- Darren Raddysh
Ian Cole -- Zach Bogosian
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Brian Elliott
Scratched: Haydn Fleury
Injured: Erik Cernak (upper body), Michael Eyssimont (upper body)

Status report

Cernak, a defenseman, is out for the third consecutive game. ... Bunting, a forward, will serve the final game of his three-game suspension for an illegal check to the head and interference against Cernak in Game 1.