The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Buffalo Sabres last night and will play the New York Islanders tonight at the Scotia Bank Arena.
The Toronto Maple Leafs handed the Sabres an embarrassing 12th straight loss and forced them to spend at least another day or two in the Eastern Conference basement.
The win was the Leafs fifth in their last sixth games, and Florida also won, so the two teams are still tied for first place in the Atlantic Division.
A win tonight will keep alive the possibility of entering the Christmas Break in first place in the Eastern Conference.
Toronto Maple Leafs vs New York Islander Game Preview
Breaking: Auston Matthews has re-aggrevated his injury and is out for tonight's game and questionable for the upcoming games.
When and Where: Tonight, 7PM, in Toronto. Watch it on the CBC as the main game on tonight's Hockey Night in Canada. This is the first of three games these two teams play against each other this year, but weirdly, all three games take place between now and January 2nd.
Standings: The Leafs have the same amount of points, but have played one less game than the Florida Panthers, as both teams are fighting for positioning atop the NHL's hardest division.
The Islanders are in the basement of the Metropolitan Division, and are even behind Columbus. To their credit, they are at least ahead of Buffalo!
Last Ten Games: The Leafs are 7-3, in their last ten. The Islandersare 4-6 and have lost two in a row.
Goalies: With the Leafs playing last night and starting Matt Murray, it looks like Joseph Woll will get the call tonight. The Islanders are expected to go with Ilya Sorokin.
What are we hoping for: The Leafs to win of course, but more than that, I'd like to see them put forth a dominant effort and crush a lesser opponent. This is what happened last night and it was very fun to watch.
Playing back-to-back games is always a problem, but the Leafs are top team and the Islanders are not so there is no excuse here.
Before the game, the Leafs sent Matt Murray back to the AHL and recalled Dennis Hildeby to serve as tonight's back-up. I would still expect Matt Murray to get the majority of starts in back-to-back games until Stolarz is back, and would not read anything into this demotion, as the Leafs AHL team plays in the same city and this allows them to have two fresh goalies available for tonight's game.