New York Islanders get shutdown by Toronto Maple Leafs 3-0 -NHL Update
New York’s three-game winning streak was bound to come to an end as soon as the Toronto Maple Leafs entered the sold-out Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on Monday, January 23, 2011, as Jonas Gustavsson blocked all 25 shots on his net to shutout
the Islanders, 3-0.
Toronto was coming out of a disappointing loss against their Canadian rivals, the Montreal Canadiens, 3-1, but managed to end their five-game home stand on a good note.
Islanders’ top rookie and forward, John Tavares, had his scoring streak ended as well with the shutout as he failed to pot a single point throughout the game, which was unusual for him since he was the major contributor in all of their past wins.
"Really it doesn't matter a whole lot … what I try to do is contribute offensively and we didn't get the win tonight, so that's what matters the most and what I'm most worried about", Tavares said. "It's over. I'll just move on and get ready to play tomorrow".
Matthew Lombardi kicked off the scoring with his fifth goal of the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season in the early minutes of the opening period. Toronto had another major chance when New York’s, P.A. Parenteau, was booked for tripping
with a minor penalty, giving the home team a crucial added man advantage.
After a scoreless second 20 minute period, it seemed if as New York would bounce back to equalise the match in the final phase of the game but Toronto was not ready to give it up just yet with Phil Kessel potting his 26th of the season while Lombardi
added the insurance goal with just four minutes left to play.
"The things we tried weren't working", Tavares added. "We didn't really get many opportunities until the third and even then, we couldn't really find a way to get some good quality chances. We didn't execute the way we wanted to and it was really tough for
us to try to get back in the game and gain some momentum”.
Toronto Maple Leafs will look to continue this momentum when they face-off against the New York Islanders once again in consecutive contests, but this time in New York on Tuesday.
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