Islanders at Maple Leafs
THE STORY: A season that began with great promise is suddenly slipping away from the Toronto Maple Leafs. They will try to build some much needed momentum heading into the All-Star break as they begin a home-and home set with the New York Islanders at the Air Canada Centre on Monday. Toronto opened 2012 with four straight victories but dropped four of five since, slipping out of the top eight in the Eastern Conference as the league nears its five-day hiatus. The Maple Leafs are coming off a 3-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens, its third straight defeat at the hands of a divisional opponent. Goaltending has been a major cause for concern yet again - Toronto has outshot four of its past five opponents but has been outscored 13-9 in that span. The Islanders are trending in the opposite direction, having won three straight games to remain on the periphery of the playoff hunt. New York enters the week nine points back of the eighth-place Washington Capitals, but a good showing in its two-game tilt with the Maple Leafs could fuel the Islanders' second-half chase for a postseason berth.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, RIS (Toronto), Leafs TV, MSG Plus (New York)
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (19-21-6): He doesn't lead his team in goals or assists, and he doesn't garner the same attention as fellow No. 1 picks Sidney Crosby or Steven Stamkos, but third-year forward John Tavares has started to show why he should be considered an elite player in the NHL. The top pick in the 2009 draft has been phenomenal since just after the Christmas break, scoring eight goals and adding 13 points during a 12-game points streak. That run includes seven multi-point efforts.
ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS (23-19-5): So much for the big shakeup. Toronto reunited forwards Joffrey Lupul and Phil Kessel on Saturday, one game after breaking them up in an effort to generate more offense. The experiment worked - the Leafs defeated the Minnesota Wild 4-1 on Thursday, but the offensive struggles returned when the two were put on the same line against the Canadiens.
OVERTIME:
1. This is the first home-and-home series between the Maple Leafs and Islanders since 1974, when New York earned a two-game sweep.
2. Toronto has won three of the last four meetings, including the only previous one this season.
3. The Maple Leafs have yet to surrender a power-play goal in 2012, killing off all 16 chances.