Tampa reveals plans for their lineup ahead of Game 3; Leafs yet to confirm their plans

Not surprisingly, the Tampa Bay Lightning have elected to run it back in Game 3 with the exact same lineup that won them Game 2 in Toronto on Wednesday, Bolts head coach Jon Cooper confirms on Friday morning.

The Lightning skated away with a 5-3 victory against the Buds in Game 2, effectively taking away the Leafs' home ice advantage in the series. In order to get it back, the Leafs will have to steal at least one of the 2 upcoming games in Tampa.

Tampa was not overly impressive to start the game, being outworked and out-chanced by the Leafs in the first period, but after a late first period power play goal by Victor Hedman, the Leafs seemed to buckle in the second allowing 2 more goals. Despite a strong push in the third, the Leafs could not get it done in Game 2, but special teams had a lot to do with why they came up short.

The Leafs went 0-4 with the man advantage and gave up 3 power play goals to the Lightning on 7 attempts. The officiating played a role in the Leafs' loss for sure, but the Leafs' inability to capitalize on the power play also factored into the loss.


It is unclear what Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe plans to do with his lineup ahead of Game 3 on Friday, but with Kyle Clifford being eligible to return from his suspension and Rasmus Sandin being activated from LTIR late Thursday, it could indicate that we might see some different looks tonight.