In order to finish 2024 on a high note, the Maple Leafs need to snap their five-game losing streak against the Islanders (dating back to March 2023) in this New Year’s Eve matinee matchup at Scotiabank Arena (1:00 p.m. EST, Sportsnet Ontario).
The Islanders have continued their highly inconsistent 2024-25 season after their 6-3 win in Toronto before Christmas, losing 7-1 to Buffalo at home (!), beating the Penguins 6-3 at home, and losing the second half of the home-and-home vs. Pittsburgh on the road by a score of 3-2.
In the last meeting with the Islanders, the Leafs gave up two odd-man rush goals inside the first five minutes of the game, putting them heavily behind the eight ball in a tired situation (from which they never recovered). In the last game against the Capitals, the odd-man rush count was 5-1 Washington through 40 minutes as the Leafs again chased the game en route to a regulation loss, their third in their last four games, all of which have seen the team concede four or more goals before additional empty-netters by the opposition.
Job #1, then, is to end the generosity with their gifts to the opposition over the holiday season by staying patient offensively and locking it back down defensively in Auston Matthews’ absence, as was their M.O. during their first successful stint without their captain back in November. This is a highly vulnerable Islanders team, one that frequently struggles to score at five-on-five, provided the Leafs don’t hand them anything easy.
Game Day Quotes
Craig Berube on the challenge presented by the Islanders:
They are a pretty deep team all around. They have six defensemen who are over 6’1 or 6’2. Good goalie. Pretty balanced lineup up front.
They came in here last time and beat us, so we have to be ready to go. It is going to be a tough game. They are not going to give you anything for free. They’ve always been a stingy defensive team. I expect the same.
Berube on the keys to ending the five-game losing streak versus the Islanders:
Well, we know what they are. They have been a certain way for quite some time as a team with their identity and how they play. They are a patient team. They don’t give you a ton. You have to earn your chances.
It is important for us not to get impatient. We have to stay with it. It could be a really tight game, so we just have to stay with it. At times, going through the past [matchups] — I wasn’t here, but I looked into it a little bit — it was just about getting impatient at times.
It’s committing to staying patient and taking what they give you. That is it. We have to do a good job of it.
The last time we played them here, we just opened it up too much. They capitalized on the chances. More than anything, it’s the biggest key.
Berube on the increase in rush offense against as of late:
To me, there are a couple of areas: puck management is one, and quicker reloads by our forwards. It is not so much just our F3; it is our F1 and F2 getting beat up the ice by their D, and now there are gaps, and now teams are coming in, delaying, and making plays off the rush. We have to have numbers back quicker than we are right now.
It is more urgency and puck play — not turning pucks over in high ice, because that makes it difficult, right? If you turn a puck over in the high ice in the offensive zone, teams are coming. We have to be better at that.
Berube on shifting David Kampf into 2C with Matthew Knies and William Nylander:
I am just trying to find a little more balance with that line.
I like Domi’s line right now. They are producing for us. I didn’t want to break them up. That is all.
I am just trying to find something by moving [Kampf] up into that hole.
Bo Horvat on his explanation for the Islanders’ inconsistency this season:
I wish I could (explain it). It is all about consistency in the league. That is why the best teams are at the top: they are rolling together wins. Right now, this win-one, lose-one thing is not going to do us any favours going forward.
For the rest of the year, if we continue to do this, we are not going to move up the standings at all. It is on us to get the ball rolling there.
Islanders head coach Patrick Roy on his team’s inconsistent five-on-five offense:
If we want to score goals at five-on-five… If you want to score on your shot, you better be a good shooter. If not, you are going to have to drive the net and find ways to get those rebounds.
That’s how this league works now. You have to grind for those goals.
Head-to-Head Stats: Maple Leafs (22-13-2) vs. Islanders (14-16-7)
In the 2024-25 regular season statistics, Toronto holds the advantage in four of five offensive categories and three out of five defensive categories.
Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lines
Forwards
#67 Max Pacioretty — #91 John Tavares — #16 Mitch Marner
#23 Matthew Knies — #64 David Kampf — #88 William Nylander
#74 Bobby McMann — #11 Max Domi — #89 Nick Robertson
#18 Steven Lorentz — #24 Connor Dewar — #75 Ryan Reaves
Defensemen
#22 Jake McCabe — #8 Chris Tanev
#44 Morgan Rielly — #51 Philippe Myers
#2 Simon Benoit — #25 Conor Timmins
Goaltenders
Starter: #60 Joseph Woll
#35 Dennis Hildeby
Extras: Marshall Rifai
Illness: Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Pontus Holmberg
Injured (IR): Jani Hakanpää, Anthony Stolarz, Auston Matthews
Injured (LTIR): Calle Jarnkrok
New York Islanders Projected Lines
Forwards
#27 Anders Lee — #13 Mathew Barzal — #44 JG Pageau
#7 Maxim Tsyplakov — #29 Brock Nelson — #21 Kyle Palmieri
#53 Casey Cizikas — #14 Bo Horvat — #11 Anthony Duclair
#18 Pierre Engvall — #32 Kyle MacLean — #20 Hudson Fasching
Defensemen
#3 Adam Pelech — #6 Ryan Pulock
#28 Alexander Romanov — #8 Noah Dobson
#36 Isaiah George — #24 Scott Mayfield
Goaltenders
Starter: #30 Ilya Sorokin
#50 Marcus Hogberg
Injured: Mike Reilly, Semyon Varlamov, Simon Holmstrom
