• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Lightning, Maple Leafs set for offensive battle

Dec 20, 2007 - 1:41 PM Toronto (14-13-7) at Tampa Bay (14-17-3) 7:30 pm EST

TAMPA, Florida (Ticker) - Both the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Toronto Maple Leafs like to score. Neither team appears particularly fond of defense.

The scoreboard operator could have a busy night on Thursday when the Lightning host the Maple Leafs.

The two teams have combined to score 207 goals so far this season, while combining to allow 220 tallies. That latter number is likely the reason that both teams currently sit in fourth place in their respective divisions.

The Lightning have lost five of their last six games, allowing a total of 29 goals in that span. With all the goals Tampa Bay has allowed, it's no surprise that top netminder Johan Holmqvist owns a 3.05 goals-against average - ranked 36th in the NHL.

The Maple Leafs are 2-1-1 over their last four contests, outscoring their opponents 10-1 in the two wins while getting outscored 7-3 in the two losses, one of which came in overtime.

Vesa Toskala has been in net for 27 of Toronto's 34 contests and ranks slightly better than Holmqvist with a 2.71 GAA.

Toskala will have a tough test in stopping Tampa Bay's top scorer, Vincent Lecavalier, who has tallied a goal in three of the last four games and leads the NHL with 51 points.

Tampa Bay has played particularly well at home this season, going 11-5-2 at St. Pete Times Forum.