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Tornado warning issued in Tampa Bay ahead of Game 6.

Eric Canha/CSM/Zuma

The Toronto Maple Leafs will look to eliminate the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night when the two teams clash for Game 6 of their opening round series in the Stanley Cup playoffs, while the Lightning will look to use the energy from their home crowd at Amalie Arena to stave off elimination.

Unfortunately for the Lightning it seems as though Mother Nature may not be fully cooperating with their efforts tonight, with the Lightning already forced to cancel a big event ahead of Game 6. The Lightning announced that, following a tornado warning in the Tampa Bay area, their outdoor watch party for Game 6 has been shut down.

“In the interest of public safety, tonight’s Plaza Watch Party has been cancelled due to the Tornado Warning issued by the NWS,” said the Lightning in a statement. “Please stay safe Tampa Bay and Go Bolts!”

The National Weather Service has issued a tornado watch for the Tampa Bay area which includes the following counties:

Manatee
Hernando
Polk
Hillsborough
Hardee
Pinellas
Pasco
Citrus
Highlands

This is of course also a concern for the game at Amalie Arena tonight, however thus far there have been no indications of any kind that suggest the game itself is in any danger of being cancelled.

Stay safe out there.

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Leafs and Lightning lines during warmup for Game 3.

The Tampa Bay Lightning and the Toronto Maple Leafs are set to clash in Game 3 of their first round Stanley Cup playoff matchup, and now we have a better idea of who will be representing each team tonight.

One of the biggest questions coming into tonight’s game surrounded the status of Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman, and based on the look the Lightning are showing in warmups tonight it does appear as though he will be playing in tonight’s game. Here is a look at the Lightning’s full lineup in warmups:

Stamkos-Point-Kucherov
Hagel-Cirelli-Killorn
Colton-Paul-Jeannot
Maroon-Bellemare-Perry

Hedman-Perbix
Sergachev-Raddysh
Cole-Bogosian

Meanwhile everything was a question mark for the Maple Leafs with Sheldon Keefe declining to share any details about any potential lineup changes this evening ahead of tonight’s game. That being said, the team does have to warmup, and here is how the Leafs look ahead of Game 3:

Jarnkrok-Matthews-Marner
Kerfoot-Tavares-Nylander
Knies-O’Reilly-Acciari
AstonReese-Kampf-Lafferty

McCabe-Brodie
Giordano-Holl
Rielly-Schenn

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Sheldon Keefe sounds off on Stamkos, the Lightning and an NHL referee!

Saturday night’s Game 3 between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Toronto Maple Leafs was the site of something that has never before been seen in the history of the National Hockey League, a fight between a pair of 60 goal scorers.

It wasn’t very much of a fight at all though and in fact you could probably argue that it was more of an assault on the part of Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos, who used a chaotic situation during the game to take a few shots at Toronto Maple Leafs star forward Auston Matthews.

The two men clashed after a scary-looking hit from Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly sent Lightning forward Brayden Point crashing head and shoulders first into the boards, with Stamkos delivering several unanswered punches to the face of Matthews while being restrained by the officials.

Following the conclusion of the game, Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe was asked about the incident and he used the opportunity to sound off on Stamkos, the Lightning, and even NHL referee Jake Brenk.

“The fight itself, that’s a classic example of a veteran championship team like Tampa Bay manipulating the officials and taking advantage of a situation, right?” said Keefe following Game 3. “I mean they know that we’re basically already going on the power play because of the Kucherov situation so it’s a free-for-all. They can do whatever they want and they just know that the way the games get called they’re not going to get another penalty. I mean you watch that sequence back and say that we shouldn’t get a 5-on-3. The officials literally holding Steven Stamkos with one arm and his other hand with no glove on is punching Auston Matthews. Not the linesman, the referee who calls the penalty was holding Stamkos while this was happening. Credit to Tampa for recognizing that situation, it’s a free pass to do what you want. Not only do they get out of it unscathed, but they take Matthews and O’Reilly with them to the box. Brilliant play by the Lightning there.”

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Jon Cooper furious over disallowed goal in Game 3.

The Tampa Bay Lightning are furious heading into the second intermission, this in spite of the fact that they currently boast a 3-2 lead over the Toronto Maple Leafs after 40 minutes of play.

Lightning head coach Jon Cooper nearly blew a gasket on the Lightning bench after a mistake from the National Hockey League’s officials cost his team what would otherwise have been a sure goal.

In fact it appeared as though Lightning forward Brayden Point had scored a goal after Maple Leafs goaltender Ilya Samsonov lost sight of the puck, but one of the officials on the ice prematurely blew his whistle. This resulted in the play being blown dead prior to the puck crossing the goal line, and even upon review the officials were forced to deprive both Point and the Lightning of a goal.

This resulted in Cooper snapping on the bench, launching a tirade at the officials that had just cost his team so dearly.

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Leafs GM Kyle Dubas caught chirping at Lightning fans in Game 3.

The first round series between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Toronto Maple Leafs appeared to reach a boiling point on Saturday night at Amalie Arena, with the physicality between both teams taking a serious step up in intensity.

The game would feature a fight between a pair of 60 goal scorers in Leafs star forward Auston Matthews and Lightning captain Steven Stamkos, which itself was part of a larger scrum that ensued off the back of a hit from Morgan Rielly that left Lightning forward Brayden Point in considerable pain.

Things weren’t just intense on the ice though with the fans in the crowd also getting into the mix, even clashing with Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas at one point during the evening. 

A Lightning fan has published a video on social media that he captured during Game 3 at Amalie Arena, one that shows Dubas getting into it with members of the crowd. Presumably Dubas is going back and forth with opposing fans during the course of the game, although it’s hard to tell exactly when this interaction occurred.

The fan who published the video claims that Dubas was “yelling” at Lightning fans in the crowd after the aforementioned hit on Brayden Point, which would certainly be a bad look for the Leafs GM. That being said, Dubas’ body language and demeanor in this clip certainly doesn’t appear to convey any anger or mean-spiritedness, but we don’t have the benefit of hearing what was actually being said.

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NHL Player Safety comes down on Leafs forward Sam Lafferty.

Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports

Things got pretty rough between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Toronto Maple Leafs during Saturday night’s Game 3, but I doubt that many of you expected that it would be Maple Leafs forward Sam Lafferty that would be getting the call from the National Hockey League’s Department of Player Safety (DOPS) on Sunday.

There was plenty of physicality on both sides last night but the DOPS has chosen to single out Lafferty for a crosscheck that he delivered to the mouth and face of Lightning forward Ross Colton. As a result of his infraction, Lafferty will now be forced to forfeit $3,108.11, in salary which is the maximum allowable amount under the rules of the collective bargaining agreement.

Although Colton may have done a little selling on the play in the hopes of drawing a penalty, there’s no question that Lafferty got too loose with his stick and did in fact strike Colton in face. With that in mind the fine is perfectly warranted, but it is still somewhat surprising to see this particular infraction singled out given the number of dangerous plays that occurred on Saturday night.

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Jon Cooper fires back at Sheldon Keefe after Game 3.

Bruce Bennett/Getty

On Saturday, following the conclusion of Game 3 between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning, Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe made some highly publicized comments regarding the way the Lightning conducted themselves during a scrum that occurred off the back of a big hit. That hit, one that came courtesy of Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly, would send Lightning forward Brayden Point crashing awkwardly into the end boards with his head and shoulder absorbing the brunt of the impact.

Keefe accused the Lightning of “manipulating the officials” during the scrum, suggesting that the Lightning took liberties knowing full well that the officials would not put them in a 5 on 3 situation. The Maple Leafs head coach also accused the Lightning of “taking advantage of a situation” adding that “they just know… they’re not going to get another penalty.”

On Sunday, Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper was asked to respond to the comments made by his counterpart in this series, and Cooper flat out denied any knowledge of Keefe’s accusations. Not only did Cooper deny any manipulation, but he also suggested that it was his squad that should have had the man advantage.

“Manipulated the referees. Alright, I’m not sure what that means, but I would say this. When that hit happened, I think everybody watching at home and everybody in the building, including us, thought we were going on the power play,” argued Cooper.

The Lightning head coach would go a step further by suggesting that none of his players did anything, or would do anything, that would have jeopardized that potential power play for the Lightning.

“Our two best power-play players, I don’t think they would ever sit there and take themselves off a power play unless they thought something unjust happened. Auston Matthews doesn’t kill penalties. That actually worked against us, to be honest. Now, we ended up being shorthanded after that, but I don’t think anybody thought that was going to happen at the time, so I don’t know, that one’s a little different for me.”

It seems clear both coaches have drastically different perspectives regarding what transpired last night.

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Second, close-up, video emerges of Kyle Dubas ‘yelling’ at fans.

Earlier today we brought you a report of a video that purports to show Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas ‘yelling’ at fans at Amalie Arena, and now a second video angle appears to corroborate those initial claims.

This second video was published on Tik Tok by user ‘buffyclements1972’ and it provides us with a much closer look at the action that we saw take place in the original video. In this video not only do we get a close up of Dubas himself, one that appears to show considerably more anger from Dubas, but it might even catch the Leafs GM launching a few expletives at the crowd.

We can clearly hear a few f-bombs go off during the clip, with Dubas appearing to mouth the words as well, and on top of that the user who published the video claims the following:

“[Kyle] Dubas with [the Maple Leafs] yelling at [Tampa Bay Lightning] fans at game 3 tonight. I’ve never seen a GM yell F*** off and f*** you at fans before. Great sportsmanship yall should be proud.”

Here’s a look at the second video angle:

@buffyclements1972 Keith Dubas with @mapleleafs yelling at @tblightning fans at game 3 tonight. Ive never seen a GM yell Fuck off and fuck you at fans before. Great sportsmanship yall should be proud #nhl #nhlplayoffs #tampabaylightning #torontomapleleafs #game3 #amaliaarena #hockey #nhlplayoffs2023 ♬ original sound – Buffy Clements

It was a very intense Game 3 on Saturday night and it seems emotions were running high all over Amalie Arena.

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Jon Cooper hints at a giant lineup change for Game 3.

Jamie Sabau/NHLI/Getty

The Tampa Bay Lightning and the Toronto Maple Leafs have played the first two games of their first round Stanley Cup playoff series and the outcomes of both games couldn’t have been more different.

In the first game the Maple Leafs looked lost as they were thoroughly dominated by the Lightning on the Leafs’ home ice, but the situation was completely reversed in Game 2 when the Leafs had arguably an even more dominant performance than that of the Lightning in Game 1.

Given how poorly his team faired in their second outing it should come as no surprise that Lightning head coach Jon Cooper will be looking to make adjustments ahead of Game 3 on Saturday night, but Cooper hinted at a potentially gigantic change to his lineup on Saturday.

Cooper indicated that we could see the return of massive Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman on the blue line tonight, although he did not confirm that officially instead listing Hedman as a gametime decision. More specifically, Cooper indicated that Hedman would take warmups with the Lightning tonight, something he did not do before Game 2, and that they would make their decision on his status at that point.

Additionally, Hedman was spotted on the ice with his teammates on Saturday and even participated in the drills, which to me is only more evidence of the fact that Hedman will likely make his return this evening.

The Maple Leafs manhandled the Lightning in Game 2 with the Lightning’s blue line severely depleted, and the Lightning will no doubt be hoping that they can temper the Leafs offensive onslaught with the return of Hedman on defense.

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Lightning get a big weapon back hours before Game 1.

The Tampa Bay Lightning appear to have received some very good news on Monday morning, good news that comes just hours before Game 1 of their first round Stanley Cup playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

A video published by Eduardo Encina of the Tampa Bay Times clearly shows recently injured forward Tanner Jeannot taking practice with his Lightning teammates for the first time since he was injured.

Jeannot was injured roughly two weeks ago when he got tangled up with the New York Islanders’ Scott Mayfield, resulting in the weight of both men coming down awkwardly on Jeannot’s leg.

Jeannot taking the ice this morning is no guarantee that he has been medically cleared to play in Game 1, but it certainly has to be viewed as an extremely positive sign for a Lightning team headed into a tough playoff series. 

Update: Lightning head coach Jon Cooper has officially confirmed that Jeannot will not play in Game 1, but is now being listed as “day to day.”