The Toronto
Maple Leafs could clinch with a win vs your New York Islanders tonight. But the
Isles have a little incentive as well.
#wewantplayoffs.
Good thing Casey
Cizikas (arm) & Josh
Bailey will play tonight after apparent injuries suffered in the game vs
Florida.
Forward Lines: Moulson-Tavares-Boyes,
Bailey-Nielsen-Okposo, Grabner-Aucoin-McDonald, Boulton-Cizikas-Martin.
Defensive
Pairings: Hickey-Visnovsky,
Hamonic-MacDonald, Streit-Carkner.
Evgeni Nabokov gets
the start with Kevin Poulin backing up.
In the first period, Reimer comes up big for
the Leafs, even on an early 5-3 chance for the Isles. Leafs move ahead, 1-0 after 5 minutes of play. Leafs get a PP goal on Carkners penalty, 2-0
Toronto. Isles behind the play. Carkner (who manned up for his earlier
mistakes) and Boulton answer Toronto's attempts at intimidation, try and
energize the Isles with their fists and it may have worked. Brad Boyes (Tavares & Visnovsky) puts
the Isles on the board, 2-1 Leafs. Isles
out shooting Leafs 11-2 at this point.
Yes, I said 11-2. Islanders keep
swinging and sticking to their game, and tie the score with just under 5:00
remaining. John Tavares (Visnovsky
& Boyes) gets a tip in on the PP, 2-2.
Tavares scores again just a couple of minutes later with a wrist shot
behind Reimer. 3-2 Islanders. New York gets 3 unanswered goals after
falling behind 2-0. Isles out shooting
Leafs 19-5.
The second period played out with the Islanders
forging ahead and playing their game.
Reimer is keeping the Leafs in this game. John Tavares (Boyes &
Streit) scores with 5 minutes remaining to push the Isles lead to 4-2. JT has 8 goals in 15 career games against
the Leafs. Shots are Isles, 15-5 for
period and 34-10 in the game after 2. The Isles are 15-2-1 when leading after 2 periods.
In the third period, the Leafs have found some
ice and had a couple of dangerous chances on Nabokov, who hasn't been playing
his best game, but has held true. Kyle
Okposo with some moves and dishes to Frans Nielsen for the 5th Islander goal,
5-2 Isles. Nabokov gets called for a
delay of game and the Maple Leafs score a late 6-3 PP goal with :26 seconds
remaining. 5-3 Islanders. They continue to scramble to try and force
something in the final seconds. Isles
win with a 5-3 final. They get out shot
9-4 in the period, but out shoot the Leafs 38-19 in the game. Evgeni Nabokov goes 18 for 21 with an
.857Sv%.
The Isles improve to 13-5-2 on the road and
reach the 51 point mark in 6th place, just two behind the Leafs who sit in 5th
position.
Keys to the
game: Andrew MacDonald has elevated his
play in a big way and has played a lot of quality minutes for the Isles blue
line. Dare I say, he has overshadowed a
strong player in Travis Hamonic this season.
Eric Boulton had a really solid game and showed he was more of a well
rounded hockey player than I had ever given him credit for. His positioning was good, he played physical and got a couple of good shots on net. I think he has improved with his time on the
Island. His fight with Orr while the Isles are down 2-0, was the
turning point in the game tonight for New York. The top line has caught
fire and has scored some big goals tonight while the offense throughout the forward lines
and on defense has contributed greatly to the teams overall success. John Tavares (2 and 1 for 3 pts.) has
evolved into an elite player in the NHL and has really solidified the Isles
as a team with his infectous work ethic.
Per Eric Hornick,
"The Isles are 8 gms over .500 on road for 1st time since finishing
1981-82 w 21-13-6 road record."
What makes this
Isles team "the real deal?"
They never quit and
continue to fight back from adversity.
Tonight's game was a great example.
The Isles went down 2-0, them scored 3 unanswered goals in the first
period on the road.
It shows their
maturity and how they have grown towards the consistency we need them to have.
These are good signs and I am on record for saying that I will retract my
criticism of Capuano if he indeed righted the ship. I would love to be proven
wrong with Isles wins. Their checking
game and mental focus is rarely out manuvered by opponents anymore.
In this writers'
opinion, they are ready for the next few steps after turning the corner.
Isles Notes:
Prior to tonight, the Isles are 12-5-2
(.684) on the road, on pace for the best mark in franchise history.
Per James Mirtle, "Nabokov has faced the Leafs fewer than any other NHL team
in his career. He's 5-2-2 against them in nine games."
Boyes(1g/2a),
Moulson(2g), Grabner(2g), Tavares(2a) & Nielsen(2a) tallied a multi-pt game
in #Isles 7-4 win v. TOR on 1/24.
Sound Tigers Notes:
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