Goaltender Joseph Woll helped the Toronto Maple Leafs halt a three game home losing streak in a matinee New Year's Eve contest against the New York Islanders on Tuesday afternoon at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.
Woll stopped 30 of 31 shots and the Maple Leafs got goals from two unlikely sources, David Kampf and Steven Lorentz. John Tavares added an empty-netter as insurance in the Maple Leafs 3-1 victory.
Toronto's victory avenged a 6-3 home loss to the Islanders on Dec. 21. That game marked the start of the home losing streak during which the Leafs surrendered sixteen goals. The dip in defensive performance saw the Maple Leafs drop from second to eleventh in the NHL in goals allowed.
With the win, the Maple Leafs tied the Florida Panthers atop the Atlantic Division. Both teams have identical 23-13-2 records for 48 points. A Boston Bruins loss earlier on Tuesday allowed Toronto to move four points up on the Bruins. The Leafs are six points up on the Tampa Bay Lightning, who hold four games in hand.
Maple Leafs Earn an Important Win Over the NY Islanders, But Concerns Remain
Positive signs emerged in the Maple Leafs win over the Islanders, but if they are to fend off the Panthers, Lightning, and Bruins for the division title, improvement must come in certain areas.
Head coach Craig Berube foresaw a patient (boring?) approach as necessary to beat New York. The Leafs lacked attention to detail at times, but Woll bailed them out.
A positive for the Maple Leafs was that both the Kampf and Lorentz goals came from transition. Kampf's game opening goal came after Chris Tanev blocked a shot in the defensive zone. The Leafs then quickly moved up ice with Tanev rimming the puck to William Nylander behind the Islanders net. He then fed Kampf for a nifty one-timer to the far side of the net past Ilya Sorokin.
A Leafs defensive zone lapse allowed a wide-open Jean-Gabriel Pageau of the Islanders to tie the game midway through the second period. A defensive to offensive zone transition from Connor Dewar to Ryan Reaves and then Lorentz gave the Maple Leafs a 2-1 lead just 16 seconds after the Islanders had tied it. Lorentz made a beautiful toe drag before burying a shot to the top corner, glove side.
Matthew Knies' play was another positive for the Leafs. He was more engaged physically and led the team with five shots on goal. Knies had what appeared to be an early second-period goal disallowed because of goaltender interference on Nylander after an Islanders' challenge.
Moving forward, the Leafs have issues that must be addressed. The offense remains stagnant. The power play was non-threatening against the Islanders, going 0 for 3. It almost gave up a shorthanded goal to Brock Nelson on a breakaway, but Woll stood his ground. The apparent imminent return of Auston Matthews can't come soon enough.
Woll appeared to suffer discomfort during the game as TV cameras caught him stretching after extending himself for a save. He was able to finish the game and made critical saves as the Leafs nursed a one-goal lead through the third period.
With Anthony Stolarz still sidelined with his own injury, this bares monitoring as the rematch versus the Islanders approaches on Thursday.
The Toronto Maple Leafs gained an important two points to start the unofficial second half of the season, but many issues remain as the Leafs work through a busy January schedule.