Islanders make a better effort but still lose to Maple Leafs
Toronto Maple Leafs David Kampf, left, is congratulated by teammates after scoring the Leafs' opening goal as Islanders Brock Nelson skates past during first-period NHL action in Toronto on Tuesday. Credit: AP/Chris Young
TORONTO — Sure, there were nitpicks. No game is mistake-free. But there was nothing inherently amiss with the Islanders’ performance other than the result.
Yet losing a second straight, third out of four and sixth out of their last nine stands as the biggest concern with this season — not yet half over — slipping away.
The Islanders closed 2024 by opening a home-and-home series against the Maple Leafs with a 3-1 loss on Tuesday afternoon at Scotiabank Arena, the two-goal margin the result of John Tavares’ empty-net, power-play goal off a draw in the Islanders’ zone with 33 seconds left.
“The team feels fine,” Mathew Barzal said. “We are where we are. It stinks. It’s not where we want to be but there’s still a lot of belief in here. That’s all you need. We’ve still got a lot of games left.”
The Islanders (14-17-7), battling to stay out of the Metropolitan Division cellar, face the Maple Leafs (23-13-2) for a third time in 13 days on Thursday night at UBS Arena.
“I thought we played a good game,” coach Patrick Roy said. “To be a great game, we have to win. We had a lot of chances. We didn’t give them much. That was a hard-fought game. Both teams played well.”
Ilya Sorokin made 22 saves but the Maple Leafs’ Joseph Woll was a tad better in stopping 30 shots, including Brock Nelson’s shorthanded breakaway at 16:12 of the third period.
The Islanders’ defensive structure was, for the most part, sound. They were strong on the forecheck and maintained offensive-zone possession. Their penalty kill, last in the NHL, had one of its best games, limiting the Maple Leafs to two shots over their first three power-plays.
But Roy kept Sorokin on the bench even after defenseman Noah Dobson tripped Max Pacioretty at 19:17, leading to a defensive-zone faceoff and Tavares’ power-play empty-netter.
“I think it’s the first time I’ve ever seen that,” Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube said.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau actually got his stick on the puck first on the draw against Tavares but the puck deflected off the skate of linesman James Tobias to Mitch Marner before getting back to Tavares for the clinching score.
“If they win the draw, we don’t touch the puck. Game over,” Roy said. “If we win the draw, we could ice it and then we could play five-on-five in their zone. That’s the best chance to create some offense. Pager was pretty good on faceoffs tonight [6-of-15].”
Unlike after Sunday night’s 3-2 loss in Pittsburgh Roy found no reason to question his team’s mental resolve or compete level against the Maple Leafs.
One flaw in the Islanders’ game was giving up a goal just 16 seconds after tying the match. Steven Lorentz found too much time and space to skate up ice and around defenseman Scott Mayfield to regain a 2-1 lead at 12:15 of the second period after Pageau had taken Dobson’s feed from behind the crease to make it 1-1 at 11:59.
“There’s a lot of good, top to bottom,” Dobson said. “We played solid, didn’t give them a whole lot. The penalty kill did a good job. It was a one-goal game. Stick with it. Focus on bouncing back and go from there.”
The Maple Leafs opened the scoring at 17:54 of the first period as William Nylander squirted behind the crease to beat Nelson and Dobson to the puck and set up David Kampf’s one-timer.
“The first one I made a mistake,” said Nelson, slow on the backcheck on the play. “It cost us a goal, which is disappointing.”
Notes & quotes: Simon Holmstrom (upper body) missed his first game of the season after sustaining a collision in the third period on Sunday. Roy, who inserted ex-Maple Leaf Pierre Engvall for the first time in five games, listed Holmstrom as day to day . . . Tavares’ power-play goal extended his point streak to eight games, matching his longest with the Maple Leafs . . . Each team had an apparent second-period goal overturned. Berube successfully challenged Casey Cizikas was offside before defenseman Adam Pelech connected 25 seconds into the period and Roy successfully challenged Nylander interfered with Sorokin to negate Matthew Knies’ goal at 3:58 . . . Defenseman Dennis Cholowski and Matt Martin remained healthy scratches.
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
More Islanders
