TORONTO – Not only did the Toronto Maple Leafs defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning in convincing fashion Thursday night, they made an impact on the opposition’s star player.
Steven Stamkos got tied up with Maple Leafs centre Tyler Bozak early in the first period of his club’s 5-2 loss at the Air Canada Centre and played the rest of the game in some pain.
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“It’s a little sore, but those are the things that happen during games that you try to fight through,” Stamkos said, noting that it was not his right leg that got tweaked. “Not the bad one. The good one.”
Stamkos nearly did the splits as he fell down after getting tangled with Bozak, but never left the game.
The Lightning captain played 19:42 in ice time, but appeared to lack his usual jump. Still, Stamkos, who was shifted to the wing all game, scored his 13th goal of the season with goaltender Ben Bishop pulled. Only Dallas centre Tyler Seguin has more (14).
Stamkos, a Markham, Ont., native, was seen walking around after the game, greeting friends, with ice Saran Wrapped around his left knee.
“We’ve got a couple days off here, so hopefully it’ll feel better after that,” Stamkos said.
The Lightning will try to snap a two-game losing skid when they return home to face the Minnesota Wild Saturday night.
Despite the soreness, Stamkos appeared more concerned with his team’s poor showing on the ice Thursday.
“Let’s not kid ourselves. That’s not a bad hockey team over there. This media stuff that’s been going on the last couple days makes them seem like they’re the worst team in the league. They’re a good hockey team; they had a couple bad games,” he said of the Maple Leafs. “They were better than us tonight, and not to take anything away from them, but we weren’t good.”
