National Hockey League
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Tampa Bay 3, Toronto 0
When: 7:30 PM ET, Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Where: Tampa Bay Times Forum, Tampa, Florida
Referees: Tom Kowal, Tim Peel
Linesmen: Ryan Galloway, Shane Heyer
Attendance: 18896

Lightning 3, Maple Leafs 0: Ondrej Palat scored twice and Anders Lindback turned aside all 25 shots he faced after replacing injured Ben Bishop as host Tampa Bay ended Toronto’s playoff hopes.

Bishop, who came in with 37 victories, suffered an upper-body injury 5:43 into the contest after landing awkwardly on his left side while diving on a loose puck. Defenseman Victor Hedman recorded a pair of assists and a late empty-net goal for the Lightning, who moved within two points of Montreal for second place in the Atlantic Division.

James Reimer made 31 saves for the Maple Leafs, who will miss the postseason for the eighth time in nine seasons. Toronto failed on three power-play tries and dropped to 2-10-0 over its last dozen contests.

Palat opened the scoring 9:19 into the second period, whipping a shot over Reimer’s glove from the top of the right circle after a pass from Hedman. The Lightning doubled the lead 6:26 later on the power play when captain Steven Stamkos’ shot caromed off the backboards to Palat, who flipped it in at the right post.

Reimer had to make the best save of a scoreless first period, sliding to his left to get in front of Stamkos' close-in attempt after a nifty feed by Richard Panik. Bishop turned aside three shots before he departed and Lindback made several big stops, including a pad save on a wide-open Phil Kessel in the middle session to win his first game since Jan. 11.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Palat extended his point streak to four games with his third multi-goal contest of the season. … Toronto captain Dion Phaneuf skated in his 300th game with the Maple Leafs. … Tampa Bay’s penalty-killing unit finished 10-of-10 in four games against Toronto this season.
Top Game Performances
 
Toronto   Tampa Bay
N/A Points Victor Hedman 3
N/A Goals Ondrej Palat 2
N/A Assists Victor Hedman 2
N/A Power Play Goals Ondrej Palat 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
James Reimer .939 Save Percentage Anders Lindback 1.000
James Reimer 31 Saves Anders Lindback 25
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Toronto 28 0 0-3 0-1 2 28
Tampa Bay 34 3 1-1 3-3 6 39
Upcoming Games
  • Tampa Bay will play their next game at home against Philadelphia. The Lightning have a W/L % of .524 after a win and .568 after a loss.
  • Toronto will play their next game on the road against Florida. The Maple Leafs have a W/L % of .564 after a win and .390 after a loss.