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Leafs vs. Isles A.K.A. The Strive for Five

by on October 18, 2010 in Game Day - 655 Comments

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Tonight, the Toronto Maple Leafs will play host to the New York Islanders as they search for the fifth straight win to open the season. The Islanders are searching for their first road win of the season and hope to earn it tonight by crashing the Leafs’ winning party. The Leafs’ fifth win of the season last year came November 23rd and was accompanied by eighteen losses in regulation and overtime. J.S. Giguere is back between the posts while Brett Lebda sees his first action of the regular season in place of the shaky Carl Gunnarsson.

Tyler Bozak, who took a Phil Kessel puck to the face at practice yesterday, seems to be fine and will be in the lineup tonight. For the Islanders, Trent Hunter (lower body) and Blake Comeau (foot) are questionable for tonight’s outing. They will also be without Rob Schremp (back – injured reserve), Mark Streit (shoulder – injured reserve) and Kyle Okposo (shoulder – injured reserve).

Perhaps the biggest question mark facing the Islanders this season is consistency in net. A surprisingly healthy Rick DiPietro has received 3 of the first 5 starts, but his numbers are not impressive. He boasts a 3.53 goals against average with a 0.869 save percentage, while Dwayne Roloson presents more impressive figures in the form of a 2.02 goals against average and a 0.929 save percentage.

Both teams head into the match-up leading their division in points. If the Islanders dress Trevor Gillies, we could have a Stash vs. Stash fight tonight starring Mike Brown of the Maple Leafs, though Gillies’ size (6’3″ 215lbs) could suggest a Colton Orr dancing partner is more appropriate.

Looking Back:

On November 23, 2009, the Toronto Maple Leafs lost 4-3 in overtime to the New York Islanders after Dwayne Roloson turned away 58 shots. Phil Kessel had 12 shots in the game, but could only beat Roloson once during his stunning performance.

If the Islanders believe history can repeat itself, I would expect Roloson to get the start tonight, though word suggests DiPietro gets his fourth start of the year.

I will be liveblogging tonight’s game on The Checking Line and CoverItLive for those who are unable to watch it or would like to join in on the game’s discussion.

Other Articles:

Letters to BJ: NHL Discipline – Features footage of Doan’s hit on Fowler, Hjalmarsson hit on Pominville and Avery slash on Komisarek.
Early Season Adversity Confronts Rangers
Philadelphia Penalty Parade

Micheal A. Aldred

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  • HowieDoin
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  • dawriter67

    This game was a moral victory for us.

    We pressed but Roloson stood up. My question to Rolosoan – you are seriously one sad sack shit of a goalie. If you are simply motivated to play hard against Toronto then where are you for the rest of the season. You’re a fucking joke.

    Kneeing the refs isn’t enough. I’m googling medieval torture methods.

    I don’t care how the puck wasn’t handled – he put his hand ON it and swept it out. There was no backwards motion to make a batting motion to knock it away. Goatshit call.

    This is the 2nd worse reffed game I have ever seen. There was one other game that happened years ago – I think in the days of Cujo. The Leafs were in St. Louis and we had something like a 5-2 lead going into the third.

    Now I can’t remember the ref but the 3rd period was a total collapse. The ref basically picked part the Leafs and sent them one by one to the penalty box for a bewildering assortment of calls.

    I remember thinking what is going on here? So many calls against the Leafs.

    The result was a flurry of powerplay goals and the Leafs lost 6-5. I think the Ref was Wicks back then…that game really stands out as a head scratcher.

    Then there’s the infamous Fraser call at the LA Kings/Toronto series. (sigh) but Fraser admitted his mistake and he’s done things off the ice from the goodness of his heart.

    Fraser was a good ref.

    Bill McCreary is my favorite. Bruce Hood and Van Hellmond are right there, too.

    Am I bitter? Hell, no – the Leafs have played some horrible games and lost deservedly so and there have been tons of right calls against the Leafs.

    The Lebda call for interference – the puck was way out by the boards and there was no play. There is some degree of bumping going to happen but Rolonson was not impeded in the manner of an unfolding play.

    Those Refs need to be called out by the organization.

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  • rustynail

    mirtle

    Leafs coach Ron Wilson blasts three controversial calls in tonight’s 2-1 loss to the Isles: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/leafs-beat/leafs-wilson-blasts-controversial-calls/article1762846/

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  • HowieDoin
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  • rpearce76

    I was at the game last night and I gotta say, that was full value.

    Our guys skated their asses off and pushed hard. Roloson stood on his head and robbed us of 3 or 4 goals easy. The ref robbed us of one as well, but what can ya do.

    The most impressive thing is that for a change we were the team pushing for that late goal with just a couple of minutes to go, and we got it! We basically stole a point out of that game.

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