NHL Playoffs 2023: Top Storylines for April 24 Schedule

The Tampa Bay Lightning-Toronto Maple Leafs series has had plenty of plot twists over three games.

The two sides exchanged victories in Toronto in which the winning side scored seven goals. Toronto then took an advantage with a Game 3 victory Saturday.

Tampa Bay has to pull itself out of a 2-1 hole at home before the series shifts back to Toronto, but it may have to achieve that without Brayden Point.

Point's head went into the boards in Game 3 during a scary hit from Morgan Reilly. The Lightning are "hopeful" he can play Monday, per NHL.com's Mike Zeisberger.

Two of the other series in play on Monday could have the road team take a 3-1 lead.

The Colorado Avalanche and Vegas Golden Knights each have 2-1 edges over the Seattle Kraken and Winnipeg Jets.

Colorado and Vegas won two straight contests in their first-round matchups, and they could have insurmountable leads in their favor with road wins on Monday.

Monday NHL Playoff Schedule

Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 22: Alexis Lafreniere #13 of the New York Rangers skates with the puck against Tomas Tatar #90 of the New Jersey Devils in Game Three of the First Round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on April 22, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images)

Game 4: New Jersey at New York Rangers (7 p.m. ET, ESPN)

Game 4: Toronto at Tampa Bay (7:30 p.m. ET, TBS)

Game 4: Vegas at Winnipeg (9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)

Game 4: Colorado at Seattle (10 p.m. ET, TBS)

Lightning in Need of Win, May Be Without Brayden Point

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TAMPA, FL - APRIL 22: Brayden Point #21 of the Tampa Bay Lightning against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the first period in Game Three of the First Round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Amalie Arena on April 22, 2023 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mark LoMoglio/NHLI via Getty Images)

The pregame focus in Tampa will be on Point's status.

The Lightning forward took a spill into the boards in Game 3 and was not himself after returning to the contest.

Tampa Bay head coach Jon Cooper outlined what Point is going through, per NHL.com's Mike Zeisberger.

"There were so many precautions that went on," Cooper said. "The fact that he came back and played was amazing in itself. But he went through so many different tests. And he was struggling, there's no doubt about it.

"The way he went into that wall, it was a very scary situation."

The 27-year-old collected 51 goals and 44 assists in the regular season and has three points in the series with the Maple Leafs.

Tampa Bay would love to have Point on the ice as it tries to rally back from consecutive defeats to the Maple Leafs. Toronto took Game 3 in overtime.

Toronto reversed the course of the series with its two victories, but it has not been too dominant to the point where the Lightning can't come back.

Tampa Bay held the Game 3 lead deep into the third period before Ryan O'Reilly equalized with one minute left in regulation.

The Lightning can win without Point, especially if their defense plays as well as it did in Game 3. They held Toronto to 27 shots, which was 12 fewer than their total.

It may be harder to win some individual battles without Point, but the Lightning have dealt with injuries in previous postseason runs to Point, Steven Stamkos and others, and they should find a way to manage the situation if he is not on the ice.

Colorado, Vegas Going for 3 Straight Wins

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SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - APRIL 22: Evan Rodrigues #9 of the Colorado Avalanche skates against Vince Dunn #29 of the Seattle Kraken during the third period in Game Three of the First Round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Climate Pledge Arena on April 22, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

Colorado and Vegas took command of their respective Western Conference first-round series with back-to-back wins after Game 1 defeats.

Toronto used the same path to move ahead of the Lightning in the Eastern Conference.

The Avalanche unleashed their offense in Game 3 in Seattle by putting five goals past Philipp Grubauer and a sixth into the empty net.

Colorado scored one more goal in the series than Seattle despite finding the net once on home ice in Game 1.

The reigning Stanley Cup champion holds a 110-88 edge in shots on goal, and that aggressiveness in front of the goal could help it leave Washington with two wins.

Vegas owns a smaller overall edge in shots in its series with Winnipeg, but it outshot the Jets by 14 in Game 3.

The increased offensive pressure from the Golden Knights helped them jump out to a 4-1 lead. Winnipeg needed a trio of third-period goals to force overtime. Vegas won Game 3 in double overtime.

Vegas has the momentum on its side from the Game 3 triumph, and Winnipeg could look exhausted since it had to exert a ton of energy just to get to overtime Saturday.

Game 4 road wins would set up Colorado and Vegas with clinching opportunities in their respective Game 5s in which the Kraken and Jets could have nothing left after fighting hard to win at home.