Toronto Maple Leafs @ New York Islanders
07:30 PM at UBS Arena
Watch on: ESPN+, HULU, TVAS, TSN4
The Leafs last game was an away game on March 18 against the Ottawa Senators, which Toronto won by a score of 5-4. The Leafs have a record of 42-18-9 so far.
The New York Islanders last played an away game on March 18 against the San Jose Sharks. The Islanders won by a score of 4-1, and their current league record is 36-27-8.
Them
The New York Islanders have a big, big problem and, like most big problems, it’s a cat. The Islanders are in the first wild card spot in the east by points, with Florida (the big problem cat) one point behind. The Penguins are one more point behind.
By points %, the Panthers are first with .564, the Islanders second with .563, and the Penguins third with .557. Buffalo is actually the fourth team by percentage, and they along with Washington and Ottawa are all at the same position — just out of reach of competing.
Most of these teams have 12 games or less to play, so to say every game counts for the Islanders is to understate things by a large margin.
Lines
Stefen Rosner via Daily Faceoff
Anders Lee - Bo Horvat - Simon Holmstrom
Pierre Engvall - Brock Nelson - Kyle Palmieri
Zach Parise - Jean-Gabriel Pageau - Hudson Fasching
Matt Martin - Casey Cizikas - Cal Clutterbuck
Adam Pelech - Scott Mayfield
Alexander Romanov - Ryan Pulock
Samuel Bolduc - Noah Dobson
Ilya Sorokin - confirmed starter
Semyon Varlomov
Us
The Leafs sent Joe Woll back to the Marlies, and soon to be father, Ilya Samsonov will start tonight. TJ Brodie is day-to-day and is getting the game off.
These are the [many adjectives redacted] lines from yesterday. If this is how the game is going to be played, well, I’ll chalk it up to the only way to rest forwards is to play them less in a game. Does that excuse that third pair, made by Orrefors or perhaps Waterford and the highest class of glass cannon you can find? No, not really.
Lines
Calle Järnkrok- Auston Matthews - Alex Kerfoot
Michael Bunting - John Tavares - Mitch Marner
Bobby McMann - Sam Lafferty - William Nylander
Zach Aston-Reese - David Kämpf - Noel Acciari
Mark Giordano - Justin Holl
Jake McCabe - Timothy Liljegren
Morgan Rielly - Erik Gustafsson
Ilya Samsonov - confirmed starter
Matt Murray
The Game
This one’s going to be a bit weird because the Islanders care more than the Leafs, that’s just natural, given the standings. Weirder is going to be playing against Pierre Engvall. But to be very frank, the fact of his position in the Islanders’ lineup is a commentary on their team strength. They are fighting for a playoff spot legitimately. That’s who they are this season.
NOTE THE TIME