Toronto Maple Leafs face difficult test to surging NY Islanders - NHL Preview
The surging New York Islanders will face the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first of two straight games against the Canadians, at the Air Canada Centre on Monday, January, 23rd, 2012.
The Islanders are in the bottom four of the Eastern Conference, but recently picked up on their form to win three games in a row, now looking to make it four as they face an inconsistent Toronto Maple Leafs' side.
The Islanders could not have won three games in a row if not for the brilliant form of centre John Tavares. The centre has scored three goals and two assists during the Islanders winning streak.
"I'm trying to contribute the best I can to get us where we want to be," Tavares said. "We're really coming together as a team lately. I think we can be even better. We just have to play with confidence."
Tavares’s great performances have seen him nominated to take part in the All-Star game at the weekend where he will be the only player to be selected from the lowly Islanders.
The Toronto Maple Leafs on the other hand have been highly inconsistent in recent times.
Maple Leafs were on a four game winning streak at the start of the year but went on to lose three in a row before picking up a win over the Minnesota Wild.
However, they failed to build on that victory losing 3-1 on January, 21st to the Montreal Canadiens.
Leafs' captain, Dion Phaneuf was disappointed with the loss against the Canadiens and wants his team to put it behind them while concentrating on the Islanders.
"We started well. We really took the pace to them," Phaneuf said.
"As the game wore on, it became who's gonna make a mistake first. We broke. That's disappointing, but we're going to have to move forward quickly."
Maple Leafs will be the favourites for the win, as their offence is sixth overall in the National Hockey League (NHL) rankings, with an average of 3.0 goals per game.
Islanders, on the other hand, rank near the bottom comparatively, with a poor 2.4 goals per game average.
Statistics can be misleading however, as both Leafs' forwards, Joffrey Lupul and Phil Kessel have failed to continue their brilliant form in their recent encounters.
This will be worrying for the Leafs since a spat of inconsistent performances has seen them just about keep pace on points with the playoff spot and continuing in a similar vein at this time in the season could completely ruin their 2011 NHL Campaign.
The Leafs are currently two points behind the Washington Capitals who occupy the final playoff spot with 51 points and a 23-19-5 record and against the Islanders have a great opportunity to regain some winning momentum.
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