Maple Leafs at Islanders
The Toronto Maple Leafs ended their three-game slide in wild fashion last time out and look to build off that emotion when they visit the New York Islanders on Monday. The Maple Leafs squandered 4-1 and 5-4 leads before James van Riemsdyk’s late goal gave them a 6-5 victory at Boston on Saturday that put them in position to finish their six-game road trip (2-3-0) with a .500 record.
“It was a huge two points,” Toronto defenseman Morgan Rielly told reporters after moving within one point of the Bruins for third place in the Atlantic Division with five games in hand. “There was a calmness at times. Guys want to be out there and guys want to answer the bell. We’ve got a lot of guys who can make a difference.” The Islanders, who beat Toronto 5-1 on Oct. 30, cooled off over the weekend after going on a 6-0-1 run to climb back into the Eastern Conference playoff race. New York dropped a 5-4 decision at Detroit on Friday before losing 6-5 in overtime to Carolina at home the following night. “We’ve done some good things, and the last couple (games), we’ve slipped a little, but not that much,” Islanders forward Josh Bailey, who has tallied in back-to-back games, told reporters. “We should’ve won both those games.”
TV: 7 p.m. ET, Sportsnet (Toronto), MSG Plus 2 (New York)
ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS (24-17-9): William Nylander stepped up Saturday with his first career hat trick while leading scorer Mitch Marner (44 points) and van Riemsdyk continued their hot streaks. The 19-year-old Marner has recorded two goals and three assists in his last three contests while van Riemsdyk (43) has notched six and 13, respectively, in a 16-game span. Toronto claimed Alexey Marchenko off waivers from Detroit on Saturday, but he did not play against Boston, and placed fellow defenseman Frank Corrado on waivers - which he cleared, meaning he will be assigned to the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League.
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (22-18-10): John Tavares was kept off the scoresheet Saturday but has been red-hot since early January, registering nine goals and seven assists in 11 contests. The captain leads the team with 43 points – six better than Bailey, who became the sixth player on the team to reach the 10-goal mark with his fourth in the last five contests on Saturday. Thomas Greiss, who gave up eight goals in a six-game span before allowing five on Friday, should be back in net after being rested Saturday in favor of backup Jean-Francois Berube.
OVERTIME
1. New York RW Ryan Strome has recorded a goal and three assists over his last three games after going 10 contests without a point.
2. Toronto G Frederik Andersen has struggled in his last three games, allowing 13 goals on 80 shots.
3. Islanders RW Cal Clutterbuck (lower body), who needs one goal to reach 100 for his career, is day-to-day after missing Saturday’s contest.