Before I get into the post game, please check out
Stephen Hermann's site for details on "Hope for Julianna Fundraiser" tomorrow.
We knew it could be any one's game. Tonight, it was the Leaf's.
It was easy to see there was something wrong as soon as Matt Moulson took two penalties. #MightyMattMoulson turned into MattyInTheBox and the Leafs lead the Isles 2 - 0 on power play goals by White and Beauchemin.
With Robbie Schremp and Blake Comeau back in the line-up, you would think they would make every effort to be effective. Well, Schremp did have one assist and Scot Gordon DID say "He did well, considering he didn't play much. I thought last week he had a good practice."
But the one guy who was making a difference once again, was John Tavares. It seems JT has scored all of the last five Islanders goals. This is actually not a good thing as four were on the power play and one was an empty netter. It's not good for the team, but it's great for JT.
Tonight on Twitter, D_Kurt_Green said "That space to the left of the crease needs to be outlined & called Tavares' Place." It was the only giggle among Islanders fans on Twitter tonight. JT scored at 1:32 of the third on a Power Play drawn by Jon Sim late in the second and then again at 11:54 of the third on a roughing and boarding penalty on Mayers.
Tavares also showed his intelligence when he knew his squad was running on empty and took some time off the clock by getting himself thrown out of the face off circle. This came immediately after Moulson pulled a nice little stunt looking for sticks at the bench giving his team a few extra seconds to catch their breath. Nice catch Billy Jaffe.
But all was lost when Jason Blake scored the winning goal with less than five minutes left in the third. I didn't know what to do. Should I be happy or really, really angry. I chose neither. To make matters worse, Hillen was called for a holding penalty that he felt was unjustified at 16:27 of the third.
The Isles managed to kill off the penalty, but even with Rolie on the bench, the Isles couldn't find a way to make it work. The Leafs win 3 - 2 on the Jason Blake goal, his fifth of the season. It must have been very satisfying for him.
Roloson faced 35 shots. A far cry from the 61 he had to face the last time he was at the ACC. Yes, according to Gordon Rolson made some "outstanding saves. We have to do better in front of him."
Yes. That would help.
New York Islanders Blogger • 
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