HOCKEY: Lightning hope results catch up to performance as they visit Leafs

The Tampa Bay Lightning are pleased with their recent level of play, but the results have not matched their performance — something they aim to change Monday night when they visit the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Tampa Bay dropped its third straight game in a 2-0 home loss to the New York Islanders on Saturday. The two previous defeats were also decided by one goal.

Saturday’s game was settled in the third period, with the Islanders scoring once on a power play and adding another into an empty net.

"These ones sting because you're playing pretty sound hockey and you're not getting rewarded for it," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "Our job is to make sure we don't change the way we play, that we just keep plugging along and keep doing the right things. Eventually you'll get rewarded, just as we've been rewarded for 15 games before it."

Before their current skid, the Lightning had won seven straight and 15 of their last 18.

Tampa Bay opens a four-game road trip against a Maple Leafs team also looking to bounce back after a 2-1 shootout loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday, a result that ended Toronto’s three-game winning streak.

The Maple Leafs showed improvement during a 4-2-0 road trip and hoped to carry that momentum into the start of their five-game homestand.

"Missed the net like 15 times at least — I think that's a number," Toronto coach Craig Berube said. "Good opportunities too. We have to hit the net on those opportunities. The power play needed to come through and it didn't, but I thought our goaltending was good and we got a point out of it."

Goaltender Joseph Woll was placed on injured reserve with a lower-body injury, giving Dennis Hildeby the start. He responded with 33 saves.

"Dennis kept us in that game," defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson said. "He's been really good. Last year, he was really good when he got the chance to come in and play, and this year, he seems like he took that to the next level with confidence and poise."

Toronto’s power play continued to struggle, finishing 0-for-3.

"Right now, what I see when I watch it, they're unsure of themselves a little bit," Berube said. "In particular, a power play in the second period. We moved it well and we didn't take a shot. The shots are there and we're not taking them."

The Maple Leafs registered 23 shots on goal but were limited to only three in the second period.

"We were trying to make too many plays, not go north," said Scott Laughton, who scored a short-handed goal in the third period. "It put a lot of pressure on our ‘D’ to go back for pucks. We need to clean that up. We found a way to get a point and keep moving forward, but definitely we didn't have our best stuff."

The Lightning played without two key players — goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy and forward Nikita Kucherov — both sidelined with undisclosed injuries.

Forwards Curtis Douglas and Dominic James also exited Saturday's game in the third period and did not return. Defenseman Victor Hedman logged 16:43 of ice time in his return after missing 12 games due to injury.

"We didn't play him as often as he usually does," Cooper said. "But I don't think Vic wanted to play that much anyway. It's hard to go from practice right into a game, especially 30 games in when the pace has picked up, but he did a great job." -Field Level Media/Reuters Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images