John Tavares and Leafs look to exorcise Lightning ghosts

This isn’t a trip that conjures fond memories for the Maple Leafs, returning to where they could’ve won a playoff series to define their direction.

Back to Tampa Bay and the gall of being 12 minutes away from defeating the two-time Stanley Cup champion Lightning, then losing Game 7 at home.

After scoring three times in the second period of Game 6, two by John Tavares for a tenuous lead, consecutive high sticking penalties by David Kampf and Alexander Kerfoot gave Tampa’s top power unit ample opportunity.

Steven Stamkos and Brayden Point set up Nikita Kucherov and overtime went nearly a full period before Point ended it. Two nights later, bottom sixer Nick Paul scored twice in a 2-1 win on Toronto ice, sealing its fifth straight first-round loss in a deciding match.

Saturday the Leafs are back at Amelie Arena.

“You think about it after the series, the off-season, that scar will always be there,” captain Tavares said Friday en route to the airport. “We had a great opportunity, had the lead in Game 6 and (after the 5-on-3 goals) with the amount of looks we had into overtime, we were right there.

“That’s what fuels the fire to want to get back there and overcome, to get that fourth win. It’s in the past now, we learn from it and move on.”

Justin Holl had a mini-Doug Gilmour moment in Game 7, called for a controversial interference penalty on Anthony Cirelli that wiped out a Tavares go-ahead goal.

“I honestly don’t think about that at all,” Holl said. “That’s just the mentality you have to have as an athlete. Move forward.”

Head coach Sheldon Keefe saw the best regular season in team history – 115 points – go down the drain with Game 7.

“Any time you go through a series like that, no matter the opponent, you learn a lot about your team and yourself,” Keefe said. “We did a lot of good things in that series, but obviously not good enough to get it done. But you still grow inside of that. Every season is a new one, every game’s a new one, especially regular season.”

The Leafs split last year’s four-game set with the Lightning and Keefe has video somewhere of an inspiring  2-1 win over the Bolts in March of 2020 that turned out to be Toronto’s last game before COVID-19 disrupted the NHL for two seasons.

Nine Leafs who played in last year’s Game 6 will not be there Saturday, including injured defencemen Morgan Rielly, TJ Brodie and Jake Muzzin. Five are now with other teams, Jack Campbell, Ilya Lyubushkin, Colin Blackwell, Ondrej Kase and Ilya Mikheyev, while Jason Spezza retired.

The Lightning have changed a few players, too, but are right on Toronto’s heels in the Atlantic Division standings and could close within four points with two games in hand if they win in regulation.

Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner combined for 17 points in last year’s Tampa series, but if Marner is to reach a franchise record 19 straight games with a goal or assist, he’ll have to work for it against a solid two-way opponent.

“Just go out there, stick with our format,” Marner said of the Leafs losing just once in regulation in November and winning six consecutive on the road. “They want to build off the rush and counter your mistakes. We have to be smart with our pucks, don’t feed into their track. There’s a reason they’ve gone to the final three straight years. Most of that team is still there and the coaching staff as well.”

Matt Murray returned in goal, after Ilya Samsonov came off a knee injury to dazzle in the win over San Jose. With Calle Jarnrok out two weeks with a groin injury, Wayne Simmonds comes back to duty on the fourth line, with Nick Robertson in Jarnkrok’s spot with Tavares and Marner.

lhornby@postmedia.com