Jan. 23: Leafs 3 vs. Islanders 0
(Matthew Lombardi has first multi-goal game as a Leaf)
Leafs scorers: Lombardi 2 (6), Kessel (26)
Islanders scorers: (none)
Links: Box Score | Discussion boards
Forward lines:Lupul-Bozak-Kessel, Lombardi-Connolly-Kadri, Kulemin-Grabovski-Crabb, MacArthur-Steckel-Brown
Defence pairings: Phaneuf-Schenn, Gardiner-Franson, Gunnarsson-Komisarek
Goaltenders: Gustavsson (Win 60:00 minutes played, 25 saves, 0 GA), Reimer (0:00)
Recap
With a far more energetic effort than they exerted two days ago, the Leafs shutout the Islanders 3-0 at Air Canada Centre. The key challenge for the home team was to neutralize Long Island’s most potent scorer John Tavares, who entered Monday’s matchup with a 12-game point streak.
Coach Ron Wilson gave kudos to the trio of Mikhail Grabovski, Joey Crabb and Nikolai Kulemin for keeping Tavares in check. “They all can skate, and they’re all willing to get in the way of a shot,” said Wilson. “The most important thing is that they collapse down low.”
The 21 points that Tavares collected during his now defunct streak was not lost on Wilson. “Tavares is one step or two faster than he was last year,” he said.
Just 1:37 into the game Matthew Lombardi scored his first of two goals on the night after capitalizing on a feed from Jake Gardiner who led the rush into the Islanders zone. Lombardi also scored Toronto’s third goal after creeping in off the wing and surprising the Islanders on a bad line change. “I’ve been frustrated, getting a lot of chances and not putting them in,” said Lombardi who entered the game with just four goals in 29 outings. “But when you get an opportunity with Tim Connolly and Nazem Kadri, it’s been pretty good, so I’ve taken advantage.”
Before the Air Canada Centre file a missing persons bulletin on the Joffrey Lupul-Phil Kessel duo, the tandem – who had been held pointless for five periods – resurfaced with one of their patented tape-to-tape goals on an odd man rush. Lupul threw caution to the notion of taking the Islanders lightly as the two teams face off again on Tuesday night, this time in Uniondale, New York. “It’s an easy game to go there and not be focused,” said Lupul. “You’ve got 5 or 6 days after, and a lot of guys have different plans throughout the All-Star break. So it’s our job to make sure that we are prepared to play.”
Leafs goaltender Jonas Gustavsson wasn’t challenged much in his 25-save performance, but was named the game’s first star in collecting his third shutout in January. Wilson said the Monster would ‘probably’ be tomorrow night’s starter.
“This game was kind of tight, it was 1-0 for a while,” said Gustavsson. “I didn’t get many shots the first two periods. Then you have to be ready; sooner or later they’re going to get a shot. But we played well, and it felt really good.”
The victory wraps up a stretch of 9 home games for the Leafs in January which many prognosticators believed would be crucial to the team’s playoff chances. Toronto woke up on New Year’s Day in 10th place in the Eastern Conference. After going 6-3-0 in the home stretch, combined with a loss in Buffalo, the squad has crept up – one notch to 9th.
With eight of the next 11 games on the road – the Leafs’ challenge for a post-season berth continues to mount.
