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Bolts, Leafs battle in Toronto

Nov 30, 2010 - 4:11 PM (Sports Network) - The Tampa Bay Lightning will try to get back on track and avoid a third straight loss when they visit the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight at Air Canada Centre.

The Lightning have dropped two straight on the heels of a five-game winning streak. The first setback came in Friday's 6-0 blowout loss in Washington and Tampa Bay then returned home and dropped a shootout decision Saturday against Florida.

Stephen Weiss scored the only goal in a shootout, leading the Panthers to the 4-3 win at St. Pete Times Forum.

None of the initial six skaters scored in the shootout, but Weiss was able to slip a backhand under the pads of Tampa Bay goaltender Dan Ellis. Martin St. Louis blew a chance to extend the shootout for the Lightning when his wrister was stopped by Tomas Vokoun, ending the game.

"I thought our effort was there," said St. Louis. "We gave them a couple of their goals. We didn't make it hard enough for them to get their goals."

Teddy Purcell, Dana Tyrell and Sean Bergenheim scored in regulation for Tampa Bay, which tied the game at 3-3 with 6:45 left in the third period. Ellis allowed three goals on 27 shots and fell to 5-4-3 on the season.

The Lightning hope to have winger Simon Gagne back in the lineup tonight. The veteran has missed the last 18 games with a stiff neck, but has been skating with the team and is joining the club on its two-game road trip. Gagne has failed to register a point in six games this season -- his first with Tampa after coming over this summer in a trade with Philadelphia.

Tampa Bay, which will also visit Boston on Thursday, is 7-6-1 on the road this year and has won three straight as the guest.

The Maple Leafs enter tonight on a down note as well, having lost two straight and three of their last four games. All told, Toronto has just three wins over its last 14 games, compiling a 3-9-2 record over that span.

Toronto, which is currently last in the Northeast Division, entered this weekend having won three out of four contests, but was then dealt losses in Buffalo and Ottawa on Friday and Saturday, respectively.

The Maple Leafs scored just one goal during the two-game trip, losing 3-1 to the Sabres before getting dealt a 3-0 loss by the Senators. Brian Elliott stopped 29 shots for his second shutout of the season in Ottawa's victory at Scotiabank Place.

Jonas Gustavsson stopped 25 shots for the Maple Leafs, who were blanked for the second time in four outings.

Gustavsson has started the last five games for Toronto while Jean-Sebastien Giguere has been nursing a groin injury. Giguere was back at practice on Monday and is questionable for tonight, but it's more likely Gustavsson will land a sixth straight start.

The Leafs will be aiming for a fourth straight home victory tonight in the first of three in a row at Air Canada Centre. Toronto, which will also host Edmonton and Boston on this residency, is 6-4-2 overall as the host this season.

The Lightning posted a 4-0 victory over a visiting Maple Leafs club on Nov. 9, giving Tampa its seventh win in the last 10 meetings between these teams. However, the Bolts have lost seven of 10 and 12 of their last 16 games in Toronto.

Ellis made 28 saves to record the shutout in the meeting with Toronto earlier this month. Steven Stamkos scored two goals in that game and the Ontario native has six markers and seven assists in nine career tilts against the Maple Leafs.