Toronto Maple Leafs Get Their Revenge Against New York Islanders
After dropping a game they should have won against Montreal on Saturday the Toronto Maple Leafs (29-11-8) were able to extract their pound of flesh against the New York Islanders (23-21-5) last night winning 5-2 in a packed Scotiabank Arena.
The Islanders put up a good fight, but in the end it was the Toronto Maple Leafs who walked away victorious in a game they deserved to win, and did.
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William Nylander led the way with two goals and two assists, good for four points on the night, with Auston Matthews, Calle Jarnkrok, and John Tavares scoring the other three goals for the Leafs.
Ilya Samsonov (15-4-2), in his third straight start for the Leafs, was once again outstanding in net at the Scotiabank Arena.
Samsonov backstopped his team to victory stopping 31 of 33 shots, good for a .939 SV%, while remaining unbeaten in regulation in fourteen games this season at home with a 13-0-1 record.
Toronto Maple Leafs Milestones
Mitch Marner’s franchise record twenty game home point streak came to an end last night after the star forward was unable to get on the board.
Marner’s record may not last long, however, as his teammate Auston Matthews is now on a sixteen game home point streak of his own with his goal last night.
John Tavares scored against his former team, giving him 412 career goals, putting him all alone in the 95th spot on the all time goal scorers list.
Looking Ahead To The Leafs Next Game
With the win last night the Toronto Maple Leafs now have 66 points on the season, leaving them in second place in the Atlantic, and tied for second overall in the league along with the Carolina Hurricanes, who did not play last night.
The Leafs next game is tomorrow against the New York Rangers, at the Scotiabank Arena, in Toronto.
The Rangers are red hot right now, with a 7-2-1 record in their last ten games after destroying the Florida Panthers last night 6-2, which means the Leafs, who are 6-3-1 themselves in their last ten games, may be in for a tough matchup.
The expected starting goaltenders are last year’s Vezina winner, Igor Shesterkin (21-8-7) for the New York Rangers, and most likely Ilya Samsonov again for the Leafs.
If Matt Murray (11-5-3) gets the nod instead, he will be seeking to bounce back after his last start saw him get lit up for four goals on eight shots against the Florida Panthers last Tuesday.
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That poor showing resulted in him getting pulled in favour of Ilya Samsonov, who then stopped every shot he faced to secure the victory and, seemingly, the starting goaltending position.
Game time is at 7:00 and can be seen on Sportsnet.