The pregame media availabilities from the two head coaches and respective player groups had a clear theme: The Lightning were (unsurprisingly) happy to reflect on last year’s playoff victory ahead of tonight’s matchup, and the Leafs were looking to move on, with Sheldon Keefe and Wayne Simmonds calling it just another regular-season game.
The two teams were evenly-matched not just in the seven-game playoff series (4-3 in favour of the Lightning) but also throughout the regular-season series (2-2-0) last year, finishing the 2021-22 campaign with six wins for the Lightning to five for the Leafs.