Toronto's Nightmare

Its the penultimate day before the huge Isles-Rags game at the Nassau Coliseum on Tuesday evening.  However, first there is a little business to take care of north of the border.  The Islanders travelled to YYZ to take on the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Air Canada Centre.  

This was New York's last game of their four game road trip which has seen them beat Nashville and tie both Dallas and Florida.  Four points in three games is ok, but a win would leave them with six points in four games on the road, which would be good.  Every point is critical this time of the year.  Momentum is very important before the Rags come a calling tomorrow night on Long Island.

The Leaves came into the game with 57 points (26-35-5).  It is always good to beat the Leaves, especially in Canada, due to the fact that both reporters and fans alike spread vicious rumors about the Islanders trying to get John Tavares to go to them back when he was drafted.  

The Islanders welcomed Tyler Kennedy to the third line with Michael Grabner and center Brock Nelson.  Head Coach Jack Capuano mentioned pre-game that he expected Kennedy to bring some energy to the team just like he did in game three when the Penguins and Islanders met in the playoffs the year before last.

With Kennedy on the third line it meant that there was a reunion of sorts for the "NHL's greatest hits line" of Cal Clutterbuck, Matt Martin, and Casey Czikas.  The Islanders had not been the same the past couple of games, and hopefully their reunion will spark the team the rest the next couple of games.  They need to be clicking going into the Rags game tomorrow so an exhibition game the night before made perfect sense.

At the drop of the puck I was on the treadmill again listening to Chris King.  The Islanders got behind the eight ball early on by committing a couple of penalties which included a one minute of five on three.  The first period remained pretty even until David Booth came strolling in on the right side and backhanded one past Michal Neuvirth to give the Leaves the lead.  

Toronto would extend their lead on a goal by Peter Holland.  After two periods New York was down two goals even though they had the edge on shots 23-18.  The Islanders were getting their chances but not converting.   Jonathan Bernier seemed to be a bit sharper than Neuvirth for the first forty minutes.  

It certainly looked like that it was a case of a very good team overlooking an inferior opponent before a big rivalry game. But before the Islanders hit the ice for the third period, someone went into their locker room and reminded them that they were playing Toronto.  That is when the fun started.

It all commenced with some hard work from Tyler Kennedy who got his nose dirty (I can't help it but the dude has a snout on him).  After almost notching his first goal as an Islander in the first period, he made good on it in the third period.  He was able to wrist one past Bernier for his 5th goal of the year.  John Tavares and Josh Bailey got the assists.  

Right after the Islanders cut the lead in half, James Van Riemsdyk got an unassisted goal to give the Leaves their two goal cushion back.  At the time it seemed like a back breaker that would send the Islanders home with a bitter loss.  However, the Islanders would get one last opportunity to make it a game and they came through when it counted.  

David Booth committed a hooking penalty midway through the third period and Frans Nielsen was able to get the power play goal to bring the Islanders within one.  It was Fransy's 12th goal of the year from Lee and Bailey.  Before anyone could blink, Casey Czikas tied the game at three goals apiece after he tipped home a Travis Hamonic slap shot.  It was Zeeker's 7th goal of the year.  The period ended with Brock Nelson almost ending the game right in front of Bernier.

The overtime was nearly over when Kennedy and Hamonic worked it to Tavares at mid ice.  The Captain took the puck through the neutral zone and crossed the blue line on the far right side and bulled his way around a defenseman.  He then displayed some sick hands by moving the puck from his backhand to his forehand finding himself right in front of Bernier.  Tavares then used some special sauce to slide the puck past Bernier for the win.

Even though I could not see it live, it was exciting nonetheless. It was a critical win that the Islanders had to have going into the Rags game on Tuesday night.  Overall the road trip was a success with six points in four games.  In fact the win made it seven straight road games with at least a point.

This was not one of their better games, but in the third period the Islander woke up and willed themselves to come back and tie the game.  Then in the overtime the Captain took the team on his back and won it.  For Tavares it was another two points which enabled him to maintain the league lead.  He is turning it up at the right time of the year.  

If anyone doubted who the best player is in the entire league, look no further.  There is not much of a debate.  John Tavares leads the league with 72 points including 33 goals, has the most overtime goals than any active player since he came into the league, is more valuable to his team than any other player in the league, and has transformed the Islanders from a national joke to a serious Stanley Cup contender.

Toronto wanted John Tavares badly in the 2009 draft.  They did not understand why he was so committed to Long Island and why he signed a long term deal.  It was because Tavares understood what it would mean to bring the Islanders back to respectability.  He embraced the challenge and now he is finally being rewarded for all of his hard work and dedication.  Six years ago the Toronto dreamt of John Tavares and now six years later all they can do is see him in their nightmares.