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Leafs vs. Habs for the final playoff spot in the NHL Eastern Conference on Saturday. Bring out the riot police downtown on Saturday night!
Globe
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Islanders condemn Leafs to last-chance saloon
DAVID SHOALTS
UNIONDALE, N.Y. — To say the Toronto Maple Leafs shot themselves in the foot last night would not be entirely accurate.
It implies they managed to hit a target with something, which is exactly what they could not do and why they now have to beat the Montreal Canadiens in regulation time tomorrow night to have any hope of making the National Hockey League playoffs.
The Leafs were hopelessly inept offensively last night in losing 5-2 to the New York Islanders. All that saved them was the New York Rangers' 3-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens, which kept the eighth and final spot in the Eastern Conference, held by the Canadiens, one point away.
But the Leafs cannot let the Canadiens gain a point in an overtime loss when they meet at the Air Canada Centre tomorrow night. The Canadiens hold all the advantages in the tiebreakers if the teams finish the season tied in points.
Arron Asham finished off the Leafs 12 minutes into the third period when he ripped a slap shot to the top corner, giving the Islanders a 4-2 lead.
The Islanders thrust themselves back into the playoff picture with the win. They now have 88 points, so if the Leafs beat the Canadiens tomorrow and get to 91 points, the Islanders could still move past them by winning their final two games. The Islanders will play the Philadelphia Flyers tomorrow and the New Jersey Devils on Sunday.
Leafs head coach Paul Maurice worked his bench furiously in the final two minutes to try to pull out the win. Goaltender Andrew Raycroft was pulled with 2 minutes 20 seconds to go for an extra attacker. Miroslav Satan scored an empty-net goal at 18:05, but Maurice persisted with the extra skater.
The only folks helping the Maple Leafs as the night wore on were the Rangers, who beat the Canadiens in Manhattan. The Leafs were certainly not helping themselves, as their offensive futility, a growing problem, had them trailing the Islanders 2-1 by the end of the second period.
There were lots of opportunities for the Leafs to take control of the game, but they simply could not convert them into scoring chances.
Islanders goaltender Wade Dubielewicz, a 28-year-old career minor-leaguer, made himself the feel-good story of the week by filling in ably for Rick DiPietro, who was felled by a concussion. Dubielewicz may have played admirably in beating the Rangers a couple of nights ago but he did not have to last night against the Leafs. They were so feeble offensively they made him look like Patrick Roy.
The Leafs started slowly, something they had to avoid in order to keep Dubielewicz and the Islanders from gaining confidence, and did not get in a sustained shift in the Islanders' zone until about eight minutes into the game. But Mats Sundin and his linemates did not translate that into forcing the goaltender to make a lot of big saves, something that would repeat itself the rest of the night.
The Leafs did a good job taking control of the puck in the Islanders' zone but that was as far as it went. They either missed the net with their shots or could not create any good chances in front of the net.
One reason the Leafs may have been slow to take charge in the Islanders' zone was that New York head coach Ted Nolan made sure the defence pair of Brendan Witt and Sean Hill were out against Sundin and linemates Alexei Ponikarovsky and Nik Antropov. It was not until Leafs head coach Paul Maurice started keeping the Sundin line away from that pair that the Leafs offence perked up a little.
However, when the Leafs were not able to produce anything with their opportunities, they sagged late in the first period and that proved costly. The Islanders pinned them in their own end for two shifts and took the lead at 16:57 when Ryan Smith knocked in a rebound from Mike Sillinger when the Leafs could not clear the puck out of their zone.
The Leafs started slowly again in the second period. This time, Maurice tried to produce some offence by reuniting the defence pair of Bryan McCabe and Tomas Kaberle, but that did not produce any fireworks, so he went back to his usual pairings.
By the middle of the period, the Leafs were barely fore-checking, although a lucky bounce let them tie the score. The teams were playing 4-on-4 when Leafs winger Darcy Tucker wove his way to the Islanders' net and shot the puck as linemate John Pohl drove to the net as well. Pohl had his stick out and was given credit for the goal, but it looked as though the puck bounced off Islanders defenceman Tom Poti.
This did not inject any life into the Leafs' offence, though. They squandered power plays on back-to-back penalties to the Islanders, then surrendered a power-play goal late in the period. Sillinger scored to put the Islanders ahead 2-1 with 26 seconds left.
The Leafs managed to come back and tie the score two minutes into the third period. Defenceman Carlo Colaiacovo took a pass from Tucker and put a wrist shot into the top corner of the net.
But it did not take long for the Islanders to regain the lead. The Leafs watched Islanders winger Jason Blake take the puck along the boards, wheel through the high slot and score on a wrist shot through a crowd a little more than a minute later to put the hosts ahead 3-2.
Globe
Link to article
Islanders condemn Leafs to last-chance saloon
DAVID SHOALTS
UNIONDALE, N.Y. — To say the Toronto Maple Leafs shot themselves in the foot last night would not be entirely accurate.
It implies they managed to hit a target with something, which is exactly what they could not do and why they now have to beat the Montreal Canadiens in regulation time tomorrow night to have any hope of making the National Hockey League playoffs.
The Leafs were hopelessly inept offensively last night in losing 5-2 to the New York Islanders. All that saved them was the New York Rangers' 3-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens, which kept the eighth and final spot in the Eastern Conference, held by the Canadiens, one point away.
But the Leafs cannot let the Canadiens gain a point in an overtime loss when they meet at the Air Canada Centre tomorrow night. The Canadiens hold all the advantages in the tiebreakers if the teams finish the season tied in points.
Arron Asham finished off the Leafs 12 minutes into the third period when he ripped a slap shot to the top corner, giving the Islanders a 4-2 lead.
The Islanders thrust themselves back into the playoff picture with the win. They now have 88 points, so if the Leafs beat the Canadiens tomorrow and get to 91 points, the Islanders could still move past them by winning their final two games. The Islanders will play the Philadelphia Flyers tomorrow and the New Jersey Devils on Sunday.
Leafs head coach Paul Maurice worked his bench furiously in the final two minutes to try to pull out the win. Goaltender Andrew Raycroft was pulled with 2 minutes 20 seconds to go for an extra attacker. Miroslav Satan scored an empty-net goal at 18:05, but Maurice persisted with the extra skater.
The only folks helping the Maple Leafs as the night wore on were the Rangers, who beat the Canadiens in Manhattan. The Leafs were certainly not helping themselves, as their offensive futility, a growing problem, had them trailing the Islanders 2-1 by the end of the second period.
There were lots of opportunities for the Leafs to take control of the game, but they simply could not convert them into scoring chances.
Islanders goaltender Wade Dubielewicz, a 28-year-old career minor-leaguer, made himself the feel-good story of the week by filling in ably for Rick DiPietro, who was felled by a concussion. Dubielewicz may have played admirably in beating the Rangers a couple of nights ago but he did not have to last night against the Leafs. They were so feeble offensively they made him look like Patrick Roy.
The Leafs started slowly, something they had to avoid in order to keep Dubielewicz and the Islanders from gaining confidence, and did not get in a sustained shift in the Islanders' zone until about eight minutes into the game. But Mats Sundin and his linemates did not translate that into forcing the goaltender to make a lot of big saves, something that would repeat itself the rest of the night.
The Leafs did a good job taking control of the puck in the Islanders' zone but that was as far as it went. They either missed the net with their shots or could not create any good chances in front of the net.
One reason the Leafs may have been slow to take charge in the Islanders' zone was that New York head coach Ted Nolan made sure the defence pair of Brendan Witt and Sean Hill were out against Sundin and linemates Alexei Ponikarovsky and Nik Antropov. It was not until Leafs head coach Paul Maurice started keeping the Sundin line away from that pair that the Leafs offence perked up a little.
However, when the Leafs were not able to produce anything with their opportunities, they sagged late in the first period and that proved costly. The Islanders pinned them in their own end for two shifts and took the lead at 16:57 when Ryan Smith knocked in a rebound from Mike Sillinger when the Leafs could not clear the puck out of their zone.
The Leafs started slowly again in the second period. This time, Maurice tried to produce some offence by reuniting the defence pair of Bryan McCabe and Tomas Kaberle, but that did not produce any fireworks, so he went back to his usual pairings.
By the middle of the period, the Leafs were barely fore-checking, although a lucky bounce let them tie the score. The teams were playing 4-on-4 when Leafs winger Darcy Tucker wove his way to the Islanders' net and shot the puck as linemate John Pohl drove to the net as well. Pohl had his stick out and was given credit for the goal, but it looked as though the puck bounced off Islanders defenceman Tom Poti.
This did not inject any life into the Leafs' offence, though. They squandered power plays on back-to-back penalties to the Islanders, then surrendered a power-play goal late in the period. Sillinger scored to put the Islanders ahead 2-1 with 26 seconds left.
The Leafs managed to come back and tie the score two minutes into the third period. Defenceman Carlo Colaiacovo took a pass from Tucker and put a wrist shot into the top corner of the net.
But it did not take long for the Islanders to regain the lead. The Leafs watched Islanders winger Jason Blake take the puck along the boards, wheel through the high slot and score on a wrist shot through a crowd a little more than a minute later to put the hosts ahead 3-2.
Habs are out... Leafs hanging on to hopes that NY loses tomorrow. 