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Lightning hobble into matchup with Maple Leafs

Mar 31, 2015 - 2:53 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Tampa Bay Lightning have secured a playoff spot and remain in the hunt for the Atlantic Division title, but getting healthy at their blue line may now be the top priority.

The Lightning look to grab first place in the division on Tuesday night when they visit the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Tampa Bay trails Montreal by one point for first place in the Atlantic, having recorded a five-game season series sweep over the rival Canadiens by winning a 5-3 road decision last night.

Vladislav Namestnikov had a pair of goals and one assist, while Nikita Kucherov, Jonathan Drouin and Anton Stralman also scored to snap Tampa Bay's two-game losing streak.

Ben Bishop made 25 saves and picked up a pair of assists. He matched a club record and previous season high with his 37th victory.

"It was a great team effort with the lineup we had," Tampa Bay forward Steven Stamkos said.

The Lightning also set a new franchise record with their 47th win of the season and reached the 100-point mark for a second season in a row. Their 101 points on the season are one behind the idle Habs with five games left to play for both teams.

Tampa Bay's victory came after it revealed prior to the contest that defenseman Jason Garrison will miss 3-to-4 weeks with an upper-body injury and fellow blueliner Andrej Sustr is out 1-to-2 weeks with an ailment to his upper body. They join defenseman Braydon Coburn (lower body) as injured Lightning defenseman and the club also saw blueliner Victor Hedman exit last night's game in the third period with an undisclosed injury.

Hedman is questionable for tonight.

The Lightning will play the third contest of a five-game road trip tonight and may give backup Andrei Vasilevskiy his first career start versus Toronto.

Tampa Bay has won four of its past five versus the Maple Leafs, but has just one victory in its past six trips to Toronto.

The Leafs are looking to stay on track tonight after halting a seven-game losing streak with Saturday's 4-3 overtime decision against the Ottawa Senators. Tyler Bozak potted a hat trick, including a game-tying marker with 1:24 left in regulation, and Eric Brewer tallied the winner with 1:43 to play in OT.

Phil Kessel and James van Riemsdyk added three assists apiece and James Reimer posted 22 saves.

"Coming through late in the game, that's what you want to see," Toronto coach Peter Horachek said.

The Maple Leafs have not won consecutive games since Feb. 21-26 and after wrapping a four-game homestand tonight, they play the first of two straight on the road on Wednesday in Buffalo.

Reimer is expected to start tonight and is 2-6-0 in eight career meetings with the Lightning, posting a 3.11 goals against average and .905 save percentage.