Islanders at Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs put together two strong road performances before the All-Star break and hope that momentum helps end their recent woes on home ice when they host the New York Islanders on Wednesday. The Maple Leafs defeated Chicago in overtime last Wednesday before shutting down a red-hot Dallas team 4-1 one night later, but they have lost four straight (0-2-2) at Air Canada Centre.
Toronto coach Mike Babcock told reporters his team has done a lot of good things of late and skated the best it has all season against Dallas, saying, “We think we can take a step (forward) coming out of the break.” The Maple Leafs have a comfortable cushion in the playoff race in the Eastern Conference and could get top-four defenseman Nikita Zaitsev (broken foot) back in the lineup as early as Wednesday as the 26-year-old Russian was a full participant in practice on both Monday and Tuesday. The Islanders will be coming to Toronto angry after suffering a 4-1 home loss to Florida on Tuesday after allowing 40 shots and totaling 21 giveaways. New York captain John Tavares leads the team in scoring (57 points) despite being kept off the scoresheet in three straight contests and has posted 26 points (12 goals) in as many career games against the Maple Leafs.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, MSG Plus (New York), Sportsnet, TVA (Toronto)
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (25-21-5): All-Star Josh Bailey notched an assist on Tuesday and has collected five in his last five games to move within two points of Tavares for the team lead. Rookie center Mathew Barzal saw his four-game assist streak come to an end against the Panthers and Anders Lee was kept off the scoresheet for the 10th time in 13 games - a span during which he has scored only three of his team-leading 27 goals. Casey Cizikas (five goals, 11 points) returned to the lineup Tuesday for the first time since suffering an upper-body injury on Jan. 13 while veteran defenseman Johnny Boychuk (lower body) has been skating and could be back on the blue line soon.
ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS (28-18-5): Defenseman Morgan Rielly (upper body), who is fourth on the team with 31 points, has missed the last four games but is skating while Zaitsev will be a game-time decision after being out since Dec. 15. “The more people who do it right every day, that becomes the moral fibre of the work ethic,” Babcock told reporters. “We’re just not as good (without Zaitsev), not as deep. The mistakes we make on defense are because we have guys in the wrong spots.” All-Star Auston Matthews has recorded three of his team-leading 22 goals in the last four games and tops Toronto with 37 points - one more than William Nylander, who has notched four points in his last three contests.
OVERTIME
1. New York D Adam Pelech scored his second goal of the season Tuesday in his 100th NHL contest.
2. Toronto D Jake Gardiner has registered nine of his 26 assists during a five-game point streak.
3. The Islanders won two of the three meetings last season, but the Maple Leafs had a 13-12 advantage in goals.