Tonight, the Maple Leafs and Lightning play their second game of the 2022-23 season series after an overtime win for Tampa at the start of December (7 p.m. EST, TSN4). The two sides are separated by just .05 in points percentage and one goal in goal differential.
Regular season matchups in a league as parity-filled as the NHL are oftentimes less about where two teams rank in the standings at a given time and more about the timing of when they encounter one another. The Leafs just caught a couple of solid opponents while they’re on an upswing in the Rangers and Capitals, and the opponent’s hot sticks and good goaltending, paired with the Leafs‘ own sticks cooling off along with a bit of a dip from their goaltenders, resulted in consecutive regulation losses for the first time this season.