2024 Finale: Islanders Lose to the Leafs 3-1

The Toronto Maple Leafs (23-13-2) defeated the New York Islanders (14-17-7) 3-1 on Tuesday afternoon in Toronto. It’s the first leg of a home-and-home for the teams, starting today and finishing on Thursday evening in UBS Arena. Toronto looked to exact revenge on New York for the 6-3 lopsided victory for the Islanders on Hockey Night in Canada 10 days ago.

Led by Joseph Woll’s 30 saves, the Leafs handed the Islanders. Despite being outshot 31-25, the Leafs were the better team today. Both teams kept the game relatively low-event with few high-danger chances.

The best chance for the Islanders came late in the third period after Adam Pelech took a tripping penalty that resulted in a Leafs power play. However, Brock Nelson won a foot race to the puck for a breakaway, where he had to take a quick shot and shot it right into Woll.

After a third successful kill to start the night 3/3, Max Pacioretty intercepted an errant Isaiah George pass and knocked it out of the Leafs’ defensive zone. As Pacioretty tried to race toward an empty cage, his feet got caught in Noah Dobson’s stick. Pacioretty went down pretty darn easily, but he got the call he wanted, dooming the Islanders to another loss.

Patrick Roy’s decision immediately after that penalty drew a lot of eyebrows. Roy pulled Ilya Sorokin for the defensive zone face-off with under a minute to go. It didn’t work. John Tavares stuck the dagger in the Islanders with the rare empty-net power-play goal. Jean-Gabriel Pageau actually won the face-off, but the linesman dropping the puck took such a ridiculous wide stance that the puck hit his skate and went right to Mitch Marner. Them’s the breaks, though.

Roy and Players Speak:

After the game, Patrick Roy told the media that his controversial decision to leave the net empty was based solely on the numbers. Statistically speaking, Roy played the cards he trusted the most. Called it low-percentage either way, and it didn’t work.

On the other end of the rink, Craig Berube, Toronto’s Head Coach, remarked how it was the first time he’d ever seen such a decision.

Nelson lamented his play on Toronto’s first goal. The goal scores after Nelson goes below the red line and leaves David Kampf all alone in front of the net, where he scored an easy one-timer.

Said Nelson: “Bad play by me. Pretty simple.”

Mathew Barzal, when asked by Newsboy’s Andrew Gross about the team’s psyche, said this: “It feels fine. We are where we are. It sucks. It’s not where you want to be. But there’s still a lot of belief in here. That’s all you need. We’ve got a lot of games left.”

Barzal isn’t wrong, but the Islanders still finish 2024 in seventh place in the Metropolitan Division and a minimum of five points outside of a playoff spot.

What the Numbers Say:

The New York Islanders finish 2024 with a record of 36-34-14, courtesy of StatMuse. Take out the 8-0-1 run that lifted the Islanders into a playoff spot at the end of last year, and you have a record of 28-34-13.

The Islanders have won two games in a row just twice this entire season. Their game has been inconsistent. Roy has questioned specific players, the team’s competition level, and, most recently, their belief in themselves. At this point in time, the season is almost entirely unsalvageable.

While today’s specific game might’ve had a noticeable uptick in their level, they still lost.

The Islanders’ power play is 11/98 on the season. They’re 0 for their last 17. The futility is unparalleled. With mediocre special teams, the Islanders could very well have 10 more points and be sitting in a playoff spot. Instead, they’re firmly in a draft lottery spot, with some fans dreaming of landing local talent James Hagens with the first overall pick.

Oh, and by the way, Nelson didn’t score one goal during the entire month of December. In terms of assets, the Islanders really need him to pick it up. If he’s to be traded for a haul, his being ice-cold does not help the Islanders.