Leafs Win on Long Island

 

Photo Courtesy of ESPN

First off, I want to start by passing along my condolences to the family of Clark Gillies who sadly passed away Friday night at the age of 67. Clark was a long-time member of the Islanders during their dynasty years in the 80’s where the Islanders won four straight Stanley Cups from 1980-1984. So, thank you Clark for everything you did for the game of hockey you’ll be missed.

 

Alright, Leafs Nation lets all take a deep breath and I’m including myself in this lets all relax. Yes, this six-game road trip was frustrating seeing the team blow many multi goal leads but things like this happen in hockey it happens in sports, many teams go through ups and downs in a season. It is important to not let the highs get too high and the lows get too low.

Toronto was closing out their six-game road trip last night against the New York Islanders and this matchup for the Leafs because they were called out by Keefe after losing to the Rangers so last night it was interesting to see if the Leafs would respond. The Islanders heading into this game were 7-2-1 in their last ten games and they were on the second game of a back-to-back winning against the Arizona Coyotes the previous night. For the Islanders Semyon Varlamov would be in goal and for the Leafs making just his fifth start of the season Petr Mrazek would be between the pipes. The NHL recently releasing February’s schedule with all the new dates for the postponed games the Leafs will play eleven games in approximately twenty-one days. Jack Campbell has shown recently that he is in fact human and we have seen his play drop ever so slightly of course he is going to be fine but he needs a break and if the Leafs are going to do anything come playoff time they will need a healthy and rested Campbell so with this upcoming stretch of games it is almost crucial for Mrazek to play well enough for this Leafs to stay in the hunt of a highly competitive Atlantic Division.

Some quick lineup notes for you with Justin Holl still in protocol Timothy Liljegren would remain in the lineup but with Jake Muzzin still recovering from his concussion suffered last week Carl Dahlstrom would make his NHL debut playing alongside Travis Dermott. On the forward side of things Ondrej Kase is still out so Joey Anderson would slide in.

The first period would start with the Leafs getting a few early chances in the Islander zone and their quick start would reward them with a powerplay as Michael Bunting would draw a tripping call sending New York’s Brock Nelson to the box for two minutes. Toronto on this advantage would gather a few scoring chances but were unable to find the back of the net. The Leafs would see a second powerplay in this frame also go scoreless but again it some a few decent looks. Finally midway through period one the Islanders would have a powerplay of their own as Jason Spezza would serve a minor for holding. This powerplay for the Islanders definitely didn’t go the way they had hoped because just a few seconds into the Islander man advantage Morgan Rielly would take the puck from Cal Clutterbuck and Morgan would see Mitch Marner ahead of him Rielly would send a pass to Mitch who was in on a breakaway and Marner would put the Leafs ahead with a shorthanded goal as the puck would slide off the blade of Marner’s stick and go between the pads of Varlamov. Toronto now holding the 1-0 lead thanks to Marner’s 9^th would have to go right back to work as they were still shorthanded. The Islanders to their credit applied some pressure but Mrazek and the Leafs managed to kill off the rest of the Spezza minor. With one minute left in the first period New York would find their way onto the board when after gathering the puck Scott Mayfield would send a stretch pass to the streaking Zach Parise who would make his around Toronto’s Timothy Liljegren and send his backhand shot into the roof of the Leaf net tying the game at ones with just his 2^nd goal of the season. It looked as if these two teams would head into the intermission tied but the Islanders would have a great chance of pulling ahead and likely sending Leaf fans into full panic mode as Clutterbuck would come in on a breakaway, but Petr Mrazek would come well out of his net to make a very important save for the confidence of this Leaf team. Toronto would manage to regain the lead before the end of the first as the Islanders would cough up the puck in their end and Pierre Engvall would send a backhand shot that once again slid through the pads of Varlamov for his 5^th goal of this season. Now on the broadcast there was no time on the clock when the puck was in so officials would review this goal and after slowing things down there was 0.3 seconds remaining on the clock as the puck went over the goal line so the Leafs would head to the dressing room with a 2-1 thanks to Engvall’s buzzer beater.

 

Period two would see Toronto once again off to a quick start as Matthews would have a dangerous scoring chance early on but Varlamov stood tall when he needed too. At the halfway point of period two the Islanders were using their size and throwing their weight around as the team with the most hits in the league were determined to level the game once more but Mrazek at this point was playing a very strong game in goal for the visiting Leafs which is massive for his and the teams confidence going forward. Despite the Islanders pressing for the equalizer the Leafs would manage to double their lead as the Leafs would move the puck around the Islanders zone and Alex Kerfoot would work the puck to William Nylander who would send a quick cross ice pass to Morgan Reilly who had made his way down low and from the corner Rielly would see his one timed shot light the lamp a third time for Toronto giving Morgan five goals on the season and Toronto would have a well deserved 3-1 lead. I also would like to mention that with the primary assist on this goal I want every Leafs fan that criticized Nylander for holding out waiting for his new deal or every fan that goes on about his streaky production William Nylander has 38 points in 38 games played. This guy is well worth the contract and the money he is getting paid, and I think a lot of the criticism he gets from fans of this team is because you have a talking head like Craig Button who strictly in my opinion is just bitter because Toronto hung onto Nylander after Craig insisted, they couldn’t afford him. Sure, Craig won a Stanley Cup in 99 with Dallas but there’s a reason Craig Button is an analyst on TSN and isn’t working in the front office of an NHL club, lets also not forget that Mr. Button ripped the Leafs and their management on day one of Free Agency guaranteeing Toronto would miss the playoffs. I know there is still plenty of time left in the season but so far this Leafs team is looking like they will be playing games in the first week of May.

So, with that out of the way the Leafs now holding a 3-1 lead they would look to continue their strong play while the Leaf fans in attendance and those watching at home were holding their breath praying this lead would hold up. Right after extending their lead to 3-1 the Leafs would be called for a penalty as Dahlstrom would serve an interference minor adding to the anxiety of Leaf fans. For the most part this powerplay was ineffective for New York but in the final seconds of the Dahlstrom penalty Zach Parise would be in close with a scoring chance but Petr Mrazek would make a huge glove save keeping the Leafs two goals ahead and the Islanders searching for answers. The final minutes of the second period would expire and after forty minutes of play Toronto would lead this game 3-1 and look to close it out in the third.

Period three you would see the Islanders pressing with the hopes of finding their way back into this game but the Leafs to their credit played well in their end all game which made things much easier for Mrazek in goal. As we fans have seen in the short amount of starts for Mrazek the Leafs would seem as if they forgot how to play hockey but last night, they were able to shutdown many attempts by New York and Mrazek when needed would shut the door on the Isles. Just prior to the midway point of the final period Morgan Rielly would get called for hooking sending the trailing Islanders to the man advantage. Toronto whose penalty killing has been in the top ten in the league all season would manage to shut New York down once again thanks to strong aggressive play by the Leafs penalty kill unit. The Leafs in this period did a great job winding this game down as instead of forcing a shot on goal at times they would instead just cycle the puck down low behind the Islanders goal forcing them to keep tired players on the ice. With two minutes remaining in the game and the net empty the Islanders would play with an extra attacker and with the play in the Leafs end New York would just send everything towards the Leafs goal but Toronto’s defense was fantastic because everyone in a Leafs jersey were throwing themselves in front of pucks willing to do anything to win this game. As a coach that is what you love to see from your players because as we all know in this league no game or opponent is an easy one and if you’re a team that wants to be seen as a legitimate contender then it’s the little things that mean the most, again simple hockey is successful hockey. Time would run out on the Islanders and Petr Mrazek and the Leafs would come away with a well earned 3-1 victory and they would finish this six-game road trip with a record of 3-2-1. By no means was this road trip perfect but Toronto’s finishes it with a winning record and Mrazek did exactly what the Leafs needed and will need him to do going forward, he gave the Leafs an opportunity to win.

 

Toronto will now have a few days off to rest and recoup before their next game which comes Wednesday night when the Anaheim Ducks pay a visit to the Scotiabank Arena. The Ducks have been struggling lately as they have just one win in their last five games and before they visit Toronto, they have a meeting with the Boston Bruins who have begun to heat up since Tuukka Rask has returned to the team from hip surgery.

 

That’s all for this one thanks as always for reading and once again Rest Peacefully Clark Gillies.

Photo Courtesy of NHL