Stamkos nets hat trick as Lightning drop Maple Leafs in key Eastern Conference showdown

It certainly wasn't the start that James Reimer was looking for - and it didn't end well for the Toronto Maple Leafs as they fell 5-3 to the Tampa Bay Lightning on home ice in a key Eastern Conference showdown.

A day after his 28 save performance in a 3-2 loss to the Red Wings in Detroit - where his his agent, Ray Petkau, sounded off, post-game on Twitter about the Maple Leafs poor defensive play - Reimer was pressed back in action due to Jonathan Bernier's continued absence with to a lower body injury.

Just 59 seconds in, the former Maple Leafs No. 1 allowed a soft goal - a harmless looking point shot through traffic by Radko Gudas to open the scoring.

"I just didn't see the puck," said Reimer, who is the first Leafs goalie to play in back-to-back games this season. "It was one of those (goals) where it kind of went behind a big scrum and I tried to get low and look through legs and I was just kind of looking at the wrong spot and just saw it at the last second and it went of my toe and off the post and in It's a crappy way to start the game."

The soft-spoken netminder said he had not paid much attention to his agent's comments or the press it has drawn.

"I think there is a lot of unnecessary hype, I don't even know what was all said, I mean I heard tid-bits here and there. I try not to think about it or even weigh in on that," he said. "For me personally, I just want to come out and play well and be a difference maker and unfortunately it wasn't the case."

For the record, Petkau later offered clarification on his tweet.

The early goal against could have been the beginning of a nightmare scenario but the Maple Leafs responded with tally's from Phil Kessel at 3:31 and another one by Nikolai Kulemin seven minutes later which made it 2-1.

It would be their only lead of the game.

Steven Stamkos scored twice before the period was out, the first with the man-advantage, en route to his 2nd career natural hat trick (7th overall), that staked the visitors to a 4-2 lead after 40 minutes.

"That felt great. We were kind of joking about it before the game that I haven't had a multi-goal game here in Toronto so I was due," said Stamkos, who was born and raised in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). "I was pretty excited to do it in front of friends and family. I was a little disappointed there was no hats on the ice. I guess I will take it anyway."

It was an opportune time for Stamkos to come through in the way in which he did as the Bolts now have 83 points through with 13 games remaining, 3 points clear of the Maple Leafs who have played two more games and currently have a precarious hold the 1st wild- card slot under the playoff format introduced this season.

"Every win is huge now," Stamkos said. "We have to take advantage of the games in hand that we have especially when you're playing head-to-head. Those are four point games so we'll gladly take it."

While the weight of the game was apparent to Stamkos, it did not seem as evident in the play of the Maple Leafs until the later stages of the game.

They fired 22 shots on Ben Bishop in the third period, five more than the 17 they had through 40 minutes. He finished with 36 saves.

Bishop's key stops included getting his arm out on Carl Gunnarsson's blast in the second period and a chest save on Peter Holland with nine minutes remaining. The only shot that beat him in the third was from the stick of Jake Gardiner. The young defenseman put on a crafty display of skating and skill - gliding in from the Lightning blueline and around their net before rifling in his 10th goal at 8:20.

With just over seven minutes remaining, rookie Tyler Johnson scored his 22nd on a power play to restore the two-goal lead for Tampa Bay.

"I felt that our desperation level went up for the last 30 minutes of the game," said Maple Leafs head coach Randy Carlyle. "The first goal was a kind of a fluke, it was a seeing-eye shot, it's a screen, it hits the post and goes in, so you can't get to unravelled by that. We get two back to take a 2-1 lead and that should kick start your group along the way, but we got into penalty problems and Stamkos had a lot of free rein out there."

For Reimer's part. he had little or no chance on any of the final four Lightning goals.

"I felt I made save good saves but it certainly wasn't the performance I was looking for," he said of his 25-save outing.

There was a scary moment in the final seconds of the 1st period when Lightning forward Alex Killorn ran into Leafs defenceman Paul Ranger at the end board in the Leafs zone. Ranger initially looked to be going to his left on the play but turned back to his right before being checked heavily from behind into the glass. After a lengthy delay, Ranger was taken off on a stretcher and transported to a local hospital for precautionary reasons.

Killorn was given a five-minute major and a game-misconduct.

The Maple Leafs, now losers of three in a row after going 2-for-3 on their west coast trip, will play again on Saturday in another game with major ramifications in the Eastern Conference playoff race when the Montreal Canadiens visit the Air Canada Centre.

While their is no confirmation if Jonathan Bernier will be back in action. Carlyle said that he is "coming along" and is more than likely going to skate with full equipment to take shots in practice on Friday.

Bernier (25-16-7, .925 SV%, 2.61 GAA. 1 SO) has missed three games since he was injured in the first period of Toronto's 3-2 victory over the L.A. Kings on March 13.