Toronto Maple Leafs: Three Keys to a Game-Two Victory vs Tampa

TORONTO, CANADA - DECEMBER 20: Justin Holl #3 of the Toronto Maple Leafs knocks the puck away from Alex Killorn #17 of the Tampa Bay Lightning during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on December 20, 2022 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
TORONTO, CANADA - DECEMBER 20: Justin Holl #3 of the Toronto Maple Leafs knocks the puck away from Alex Killorn #17 of the Tampa Bay Lightning during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on December 20, 2022 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
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If the Toronto Maple Leafs have any chance of getting back into this series, there are three things they need to focus on for Game 2.

That was arguably the most pathetic Toronto Maple Leafs game of the past decade, which is hard to say, as there have been a ton.

With so much hype and anticipation, the team didn’t live up to expectations and were flat from the opening face-off.

If you want to look at one positive, this team can’t really play much worse than that can they?

Toronto Maple Leafs Need to Win Game 2

At the end of the day, whether they lost 7-3 or 2-1 in overtime, it would still be 1-0 Tampa Bay right now, so this team needs to be a goldfish and immediately forget about Game 1.

Toronto went up 1-0 during last year’s playoffs and lost the series, so there’s no reason to think that this series is close to over, but you have to imagine Game 2 is a must-win. If you go down 2-0, losing twice at Scotiabank Arena, and have to go Tampa for Game 3, it feels almost impossible that the Toronto Maple Leafs can come back and win.

If you want to look at any positives for Game 1, it’s good that Toronto scored three goals on Andrei Vasilevskiy, but at the same time, it’s embarrassing that they were able to score three times and lost by four.

The next game better look different for this team or it could be a short series. Here are three keys to a Game 2 victory for the Toronto Maple Leafs: