A sweep of the New York Islanders in their home-and-home series has Toronto back on track heading into the All-Star break, as the Maple Leafs earned a thrilling 4-3 overtime victory in Long Island on Tuesday night.
The win against the Islanders is Toronto's first road win in over a month, with their last win away from the Air Canada Centre also coming on Long Island on Dec. 23. It also put the Leafs into a tie in points with the Florida Panthers and New Jersey Devils for the final two playoff spots in the Eastern Conference.
Mikhail Grabovski had his best game of the season as trade speculation begins to swirl regarding the 27-year old Belarussian who is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer. Grabovski had a goal and three assists, including the helper on the overtime winner by Clarke MacArthur to earn second star of the game honours.
Tuesday's game marks the second time in his career that Grabovski has registered four points in a game, the other coming on Mar. 21, 2009, when he had a goal and three assists against the Montreal Canadiens.
After having his 12-game point streak snapped one night ago, John Tavares got back on the score sheet, banging the loose puck by Jonas Gustavsson to open up the scoring at the 1:54 mark of the game. The goal was Tavares' 20th of the season, reaching that plateau in all three seasons of his career. Kyle Okposo and Dylane Reese picked up the assists on the play.
The Islanders extended their lead to two just before the midway point of the second period with a shorthanded goal. With New York killing off a holding call, the Leafs' defence was caught pinching in the offensive zone and the Isles found themselves in a 2-on-1, resulting in a shorthanded marker from Josh Bailey. The goal was Bailey's fifth of the year, while it was the third shorthanded goal given up by Toronto this season. Matt Martin drew the lone assist on the play, giving him seven on the season.
As time was ticking down in the second period, the Leafs trimmed New York's lead to one as MacArthur snapped his eight-game goalless drought with a goal at the 18:55 mark. MacArthur's goal was his 13th of the season and the assists were credited to his linemates Mikhail Grabovski and Nikolai Kulemin, both earning their 14th helpers of the season respectively.
Toronto tied up the game at two early in the third period, when just 1:47 into the final frame, rookie defenceman Jake Gardiner blasted a shot from the blue line past a screened Al Montoya. The goal was Gardiner's first of his career, becoming the first American rookie defenceman to score a goal with the Leafs since Al Iafrate did so during the 1984-85 season. Grabovski drew his second assist of the game and 15th of the year on the play, while MacArthur was given the secondary assist for his second point of the night as well.
Late in the third, the Leafs got their first lead of the game thanks to an odd goal from Grabovski. Driving down the wing, the 27-year old Belarussian had his shot deflected which floated over Montoya and into the net to put Toronto up 4-3 at the 16:54 mark. Kulemin earned his second assist of the night on the play, while Gardiner also picked up his second point of the evening with the secondary helper.
With Montoya pulled from the Isles' net and time ticking down to the end of regulation, it appeared the Leafs had the win locked up. But just as a strange play giveth the lead, it also taketh away. On a clearing attempt by Grabovski, the puck took a lucky bounce off the boards and found it's way onto the stick of P.A. Parenteau who was all alone in front and put it away with 13 seconds remaining. Parenteau's goal was his tenth of the season and was unassisted.
An exciting play wrapped up the game in overtime, when in on a 3-on-1, Grabovski fed MacArthur who appeared to be stopped by Montoya with a phenomenal glove save. The play was immediately reviewed however, and replays showed that Montoya's glove was across the goal line and it was declared to be a good goal.
MacArthur's OT winner was his 14th this year and gave the Lloydminster, Alberta native his second two-goal game of the season and first star of the game honours. With two goals and an assist, MacArthur also registered his first three-point game of the campaign and first since Mar. 29 of last season.
Jonas Gustavsson stopped 29 of 32 shots to pick up his second win in as many nights and improve his record to 16-10-0 this season. The Monster's win against the Isles ties his single-season best for wins, previously reaching 16 wins during his rookie season in 2009-10.
The Leafs are now off for the All-Star break. The next time they are in action is Tuesday, Jan. 31, when they visit the Pittsburgh to kick off a home-and-home series against the Penguins.
All-Star Game Ticket Giveaway!
The 2012 All-Star Game takes place this Sunday, Jan. 29 in Ottawa, and HockeyBuzz is giving you an opportunity to be there in person by giving away two tickets through HockeyTickets.ca!
Simply answer our trivia question down below by sending your answer to [email protected]. The winner will be selected at random. The deadline for entries is Thursday, Jan. 26 at 10AM ET.
ASG Ticket Giveaway Trivia Question
When was the last time the Toronto Maple Leafs had three players make the All-Star Game and who were they?
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