The travel weary New York Islanders are proud to introduce the world to their brand spanking new rink, The UBS Arena on Long Island. The $1.1B facility opened Saturday to a robust 17,250 spectators who witnessed a depleted home squad (COVID, what else ?) lose to the Calgary Flames. The structure is right beside the Belmont Park Raceway which hosts the prestigious Triple Crown race The Belmont Stakes each year. There is a link below courtesy of ESPN that features crowd favorite Matt Martin’s take from a player’s perspective.
The Islanders have had to wait a lifelong 13 games on the road before finally settling into their new digs. During that span they managed a below average 5-7-2 record in the highly competitive Metropolitan Division.
New York Coach Barry Trotz started the Brock Nelson line against the John Tavares trio much to the delight of the boo birds who still have hostility toward their former Captain. Leaf Coach Seldon Keefe displayed his “new” look forward lines showing a new left-wing alignment that had Bunting move up with Mathews/Marner, Ritchie drop down to the third alongside Kampf and Kase leaving Engvall to play with Spezza and Simmonds.
Double minors were called after an innocent looking exchange and it was quickly followed by a kind of dumb call against Liligren. During the ensuing 4 on 3, Muzzin sent a nifty cross ice clearing pass to a streaking Marner who broke across to give the Leafs a 1-0 lead. That was his first shorty of the year. Ritchie showed his displeasure at his demotion by landing a nice forecheck into the boards. That was matched not long after by Martin on Rasmus Sandin.
An uneventful second period allowed the Leafs to come out in the third to prove to Coach Keefe something he has been preaching, namely “the really good teams know how to play with a lead.”
Ondrej Kase pumped in a nice forecheck charge by the newly installed Ritchie and running mate David Kampf to make it 2-0. That was Kase’ 4th goal in his last 7 games. Mathews was robbed (again) on a powerplay followed by a selfish Nylander offensive zone penalty. Luckily for Leafs Nation the Islanders are in 30th place in both man advantage efficiency and scoring overall.
Bunting had a great game responding to his recent promotion from the 4th line. He has the uncanny ability to draw opponent penalties. This is likely due to his willingness to “get his nose dirty” in the tough areas. On this night, he drew infractions number 13 and 14 to move him into the league in this category. If that wasn’t enough, he set up linemate Mitch Marner for his second of the night with less than 7 minutes remaining. Final score: Leafs 3 Islanders 0.
HOPPER NOTES:
Is Wayne Simmonds a little snake bit around the net ? Invisible men tonight: Nylander and Spezza. If the Leafs are looking for more scoring, why not give Josh Ho-Sang a look ? He’s leading the AHL Marlies with 8 goals and 12 points. Judging by the video I’ve seen, he shoots right, but why not try him with the “CZECH brothers. “ Hats off to 23 year old Joseph Woll with his second win (a 20 save shutout no less). He looked so much more confident tonight, assertively challenging shooters from all angles.