The Toronto Maple Leafs are going to play the New York Islanders today at 1 PM. It would be nice to get a New Year's Eve game, but the NHL gives us this, which is kind of crappy, if I'm being honest.
It would have been totally awesome to have a Maple Leafs game tonight, and while I'll pretty much take one at any time, a day game on New Years Eve - when you've got errands and miscellaneous things to do while you get ready for the big night - is a bit inconvenient.
I mean, the Leafs lead the NHL with 16 back-to-back games this year, so it's not like their schedule has in any way been good to begin with, but this is just extra dumb.
Complains aside, Happy New Years, and welcome to the game preview.
Toronto Maple Leafs vs New York Islanders: Note the 1 P.M Star Time
The Leafs will go with Joseph Woll for this one, and presumably the Islanders will go with Ilya Sorokin, though for a day game it's hard to know. As of the time of this writing, nothing is confirmed, but neither team plays the day before or the day after, so presumably both teams will use their starting goalies.
These teams met just last week, when the Islanders beat the Leafs 6-3, and they will meet again on Thursday. These are the only times they face each other all season long.
The Leafs will be without Auston Matthews for this game, which is unfortunate and not just because Auston Matthews is their best player and likely the second best player alive in the world today. The unfortunate part for the Leafs is that without Matthews in the lineup they likely have the worst centres in the NHL (and for sure the worst out of any team realistically hoping to make the playoffs).
In their last game, the Leafs had to dress Pontus Holmberg as their second-line centre, which is a scenario so preposterous I cannot believe it did not warrant an immediate trade. Dressing Holmberg at is questionable at best, but dressing him at 2C surely qualifies as a joke.
The Leafs have lost three of their last four, and based on their lineup decisions, it's no wonder. The only team they beat recently was Detroit, and that's nothing to brag about. Hopefully they can finish off the year with a nice win against the Islanders. Happy New Years!