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SPORTSCENTRE Reporter

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TSN Toronto reporter Mark Masters checks in daily with news and notes on the Maple Leafs. The Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning skated at Scotiabank Arena ahead of Thursday's game. 

John Tavares didn't just get the game winner against his former team in Long Island on Monday, he also made franchise history by notching his 46th goal – a new single-season high for a Maple Leafs centre. 

"I didn't know that," Tavares said with a smile. "There's obviously been a tremendous amount of great centremen that have played for the Maple Leafs over the course of its history, so to do something like that is obviously pretty special."

It was Darryl Sittler who previously held the record, scoring 45 in the 1977-78 season. 

"Awesome," Tavares said when informed it was Sittler he passed. "Man, that's a pretty good player."

Tavares, who picked up goal No. 47 on Tuesday, is now just three away from becoming the first Leaf since Dave Andreychuk in the 1993-94 season to reach the 50 mark.

"He’s brought to the Leafs what [Ryan] McDonagh’s brought to us," observed Lightning coach Jon Cooper. "They’ve had injuries, guys go down, and Tavares seems to be that stabilizing force."

Tavares' longest goal drought this season has been just five games. 

 

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The Lightning, who reached the 60-win mark on Monday in Ottawa, have dominated the NHL all season and can tie the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings' league record for most victories in the regular season with wins in their two remaining games. 

"You want players feeling good about themselves going into the playoffs, but as soon as it's Saturday at 4 p.m. for us I don’t think anyone will think of the regular season and what's gone on," Cooper insisted. 

That said, Tampa Bay has lost two of three games and getting back to their winning ways tonight is a motivating factor. The Lightning haven't lost three of four all season.  

"There really isn't some magic switch come playoff time," said captain Steven Stamkos, "you want to be feeling good about yourself individually and you want to be feeling good collectively as a team heading into the playoffs. We just want to get our compete level up. Once that gets to our standard, that's when the skillset takes over and we look forward to doing that tonight."

The Lightning have had some long playoff runs in recent years, including losing in the Stanley Cup final in 2015 against the Blackhawks. 

"I can’t speak for the players, but I know I haven’t gotten over it," said Cooper. "I don't think you ever really get over it until maybe you win one. Then maybe you get over it."

"It was tough," recalled Stamkos. "We thought we should’ve won that series, but it's a while ago now. Everyone talked about the lack of experience that we had in that series versus a Chicago team that had tons of experience. Well, our group has a lot of experience now so hopefully we can use that as an advantage." 

Getting that experience has been a painful process. Last season, Tampa Bay lost in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final against the Washington Capitals.

"If you look back on that series, though, we were probably fortunate just to get it to Game 7 after some of the performances our goaltender put in in Washington," Stamkos admitted, "so I think we realized we weren’t good enough to win and that a team came in in Washington that had been lingering around for a while and has had a really good team and they were more desperate and wanted it more. I think that stung us more, that we faced a team that you could tell how badly they wanted it so hopefully we'll have that same attitude this time around."

That may help explain why the Lightning have been able to maintain such a high level of play all season long. They haven't suffered consecutive regulation losses since November 10 and 13. 

"I tip my hat to the guys and how they performed this year, but if we're going to go anywhere we're going to have to take our game to another level," said Cooper. "They are two completely different seasons and the way we look at the regular season is you get to open the door to get to play for the big prize. When you win 60 games there’s something that’s been consistently good about your team throughout, but, to be honest, you can't hang your hat on 60 wins when you get to the playoffs."

 

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Jake Muzzin will miss a second straight game due to illness while Nazem Kadri will sit out tonight's game for maintenance. 

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Lines at Leafs morning skate: 

Hyman-Tavares-Marner 

Marleau-Matthews-Kapanen 

Johnsson-Nylander-Brown 

Ennis-Gauthier-Moore

Petan 

 

Rielly-Hainsey 

Gardiner-Zaitsev 

Rosen-Dermott 

Marincin-Ozhiganov/Holl

 

Andersen starts 

Sparks

Woll

 

Power play units at Leafs morning skate:

Rielly 

Matthews-Nylander-Marner 

Tavares 

 

Gardiner 

Ennis-Johnsson-Kapanen 

Marleau​