It was by no means their most complete game of the season but nonetheless the Islanders gutted out a 5-3 win in Toronto over the Maple Leafs. The Islanders have now won five of the last six games and are playing some consistent hockey for the first time all season. This was not a flawless game last night but the Islanders still managed to come away with two points without playing their best hockey.
Islanders’ goalie Kevin Poulin was by no means stellar but he gave his team the chance to win. That is all you can ask for in your goalie. Poulin did have a rough night with rebound control and was caught deep in his own net on a few occasions, however he certainly fared better than Leafs’ goalie Jonathan Bernier. Bernier had a rough night allowing some questionable goals to Kyle Okposo, Michael Grabner and Calvin deHaan. It was deHaan’s first NHL goal and his blast just outside the blue line was deflected by Toronto dman Dion Phaneuf and this proved to be the game winner.
After watching this game I was left thinking that the Toronto defense might actually be worse than the Isles and for six times the salary. There were chances all night and it seemed like John Tavares was stealing the puck from a Leafs’ player on every shift. Tavares continued his torrid hot streak and his three assists now puts him tied for second in the NHL scoring race with Blackhawks’ forward Patrick Kane.
The Isles looked like a team that got into their hotel room at 4am the day of the game. They were sloppy at times and just looked like they were devoid of any jump in their legs. This though is an encouraging sign, the Isles looked flat and tired yet stayed in the game and capitalized on their chances to take two points. This is a great sign moving forward.
The Islanders will now have two days off and will meet the Avalanche in Denver on Friday night. This is without question a work in progress but the Islanders are starting to put together a good run and with the dead weight that is the Metro division a successful twenty to twenty five game stretch will get them right back into playoffs contention.
But for now its one game at a time, the Isles just need to rack up points. For New York to get into the playoffs they need to win in regulation against their conference foes and when they lose it needs to be in overtime or in a shootout. This is the key to leapfrog the teams in front of them. As Always for more on all things hockey please follow me on Twitter and Instagram at @DanDanNoodles78.