Analysis | They are relentless. The Lightning have what the Maple Leafs want. This won’t be just another game

Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning will play three-game winning streaks Thursday night at Scotiabank Arena.

Like any other NHL team, the Leafs want what two-time defending champion Lightning has. This is more than just one more game.

The Leafs have started to get some great games from key players and have been checking better lately. The Lightning provides the perfect measuring stick to see if that progress is real or fleeting.

“They play four lines and they’re relentless,” Leaf Wayne Simmonds said. “They are coming for you wave after wave after wave … They have won consecutive Cups, so they are the champions … I think all teams want to emulate (them) and we are no different.”

However, Tampa’s quest for a hat-trick will be challenging. The Lightning lost forward Blake Coleman and defender David Savard in free agency, and star winger Nikita Kucherov is out for the long haul following a lower body injury that required surgery. Still, they are off to a decent start at 5-3-1, with a pair of overtime wins and a loss on shooting. However, like the 5-4-1 Leafs, expectations were a bit higher for this point in the season.

But with Steven Stamkos re-emerging as the team’s leading scorer, and their player of the month for October, Tampa looks dangerous again.

Coach Jon Cooper, who will lead Canada to the Beijing Olympics in February, changed his lines to ignite the current winning streak. The top unit has Alex Killorn and Anthony Cirelli with center Brayden Point. They have combined to score seven of Lightning’s 13 goals in his last three games.

“Every time you play Tampa here now, and even before they won the Cup, you knew a game was waiting for you,” Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said. “But now, with the kind of experience and credibility they have, you have to be prepared.

“They look a little different now, but not entirely different. You look at goal and defense, and then the high-end forwards and depth forwards who seem to add to their team from outside or from the minors. Guys find ways to play roles and give them good energy. It’s a great opportunity for our team to take a step here. “

Keefe, like Cooper, created a new top line around Auston Matthews with Michael Bunting and William Nylander, while Mitch Marner was paired with center John Tavares. Both units were rolling in Tuesday night’s 4-0 win over the Vegas Golden Knights.

The Leafs felt they played one of their most complete games of the season, with an effective early check-up at point guard, albeit against an injury-depleted Knights lineup missing four of their top five scorers from a year ago.

Keefe has reinforced that aggressive approach and the need for more second-chance goals buzzing in the offensive zone to force errors from the opposition.

Tavares, in particular, has been testing with success lately, with Marner benefiting from the discs he digs and also hard at work on verification.

Toronto’s power play has also shown signs of improvement, scoring in back-to-back games after a losing streak of 0-for-16.

“I like the way they worked,” Keefe said. “Outside of the record, they shot the record and then they created some loose record scenarios where they had to compete and find ways to get it back.

“(Opponents) can get out of the box doing that, and that in itself can create chances and opportunities, when the other team is sometimes disoriented. And that’s how (Matthews scored one of his two goals) ”.

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