Toronto Maple Leafs play host to the New York Islanders - NHL Previews
The first game of Tuesday will be played at the Air Canada Centre as the home team, Toronto Maple Leafs face the New York Islanders. This will be the third out of the four scheduled meeting between the two sides.
Out of the two meeting that have taken place between the two sides, the Islanders won the first game 2-1 in overtime while the Maple Leafs were able to bounce back and win the second 5-3. The Islanders are in good form ahead of the game as they have won
two in row and will be looking to make it three consecutive wins.
Al Montoya, goal keeper of the Islanders had a great start to his Islanders career as in his very first game he kept the clean sheet intact as the Islanders defeated the Los Angeles Kings 3-0. In his most recent game, his second straight start this Monday,
he came up with some brilliant goal keeping that saw him making 20 saves during the game which won the game for the Islanders 5-1.
"You can see the way things are going, and you want to keep it going," Montoya said. "You want to be a guy who's helping and contributing."
Though some would argue that the Islanders are out of the play-off running but considering the tight things in the Conference, anything is possible. Given the fact that they are just 11 points behind the final play-off spot which is occupied by the Hurricanes
who are constantly losing points they still have an outside chance.
The Islanders had problems in the goal keeping department but this has been sorted out with the arrival of Al Montoya who has come up with some brilliant performance in his first two games and won both games allowing only one goal.
"We're a cohesive bunch, and we've got that never-day-die attitude," said winger Matt Moulson. "We never quit. We're going to try to get as many wins as we can the rest of the season. It's not over until the season's done."
The Islanders have played 60 games in the season so far out of which they have won 23 games in regulation time, seven games in overtime and scored 53 points. On the other hand, the Maple Leafs have played 59 games out of which they have won 25 games in regulation
time, scored a point at least in seven games and scored 57 points.
The Maple Leafs had two games winning as they faced the Ottawa Senators this past Saturday. The game saw the Senators goalie, Craig Anderson stopping all 47 shots which resulted in the Senators winning the game 1-0 in the end.
"The biggest thing is guys in this room are looking to be the answers themselves,” defenseman Luke Schenn said. "They are not waiting for more turnover and to bring more people in to get this thing going here as an organization and start winning.
The game is going to very tight and tough as both teams look to strengthen their chances of making it into the play-off cut.
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