Maple Leafs clinch playoff berth with victory against Islanders
The Toronto Maple Leafs clinched a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 2-1 win against the New York Islanders at Nassau Coliseum on Monday.
John Tavares scored against his former team for the first time, Calle Rosen scored his first NHL goal and Frederik Andersen made 28 saves for Toronto (46-26-7), which will appear in the playoffs for a third straight season.
The Maple Leafs will play the Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference First Round; they trail the Bruins by four points for second place in the Atlantic Division.
“Anytime you make it official and everything that goes into it from the first day of training camp to this point and even the rest of this week, you’re able to take a moment to soak it in,” Tavares said. “We get to be a part of it and get that opportunity to compete for the Stanley Cup. That’s what it’s all about.
“You work so hard for that opportunity. It’s such a long season. It’s just nice to make it official and punch your ticket. You never want to take your foot off the gas, regardless of your situation. It’s good to get it done as soon as possible.”
Jordan Eberle scored, and Robin Lehner made 36 saves for New York (46-27-7), which remained three points behind the first-place Washington Capitals in the Metropolitan Division. The Islanders are two points ahead of the third-place Pittsburgh Penguins.
“Give them some credit; they had a lot of desperation in their game,” New York coach Barry Trotz said. “We needed more in ours. We had some at the end.
“I thought the first was pretty even. I thought the second we were fine until they got the goal, and they got some momentum there.”
They said it
“Obviously, the first thing is making the playoffs. We’ve made the playoffs three years in a row. There’s always expectations, but the reality is it’s hard to make the playoffs in the National Hockey League. We’ve got a good group and we’re getting better. I think what we’ve been through this last little bit, even though we’ve been playing better and better defensively, we haven’t been winning every night. I think it’s probably good for our group. I think our group worked real hard tonight.” — Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock
“We wanted to come out here and have another strong performance, but they’re a good team. They played well tonight. We were right there; we just didn’t execute well at times, and it cost us. We’re not going to hang our heads too long on this one.” — Islanders left wing Matt Martin
Need to know
Maple Leafs forward Andreas Johnsson did not play because of an illness. … Toronto forward Connor Brown had an assist to extend his point streak to three games (two goals, two assists). … The Islanders had not scored on their previous 32 power-play opportunities at Nassau Coliseum prior to Eberle’s goal (Jan. 20 against the Anaheim Ducks). … Lehner made 16 saves in the first period.
What’s next
Maple Leafs: Host the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; TVAS, TSN4, FS-CR, NHL.TV)
Islanders: At the Florida Panthers on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; FS-F, MSG+, NHL.TV)
#TORvsNYI post-game interviews:
Trotz→ https://t.co/k4E7YHgg5p
Lehner→ https://t.co/7FXT0x0Hj2
Martin→ https://t.co/V9EN1e9tiF pic.twitter.com/s9LPPSXpqy— x - New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) April 2, 2019
Make it three consecutive appearances in the #StanleyCup Playoffs for the @MapleLeafs, who have reached the postseason every year since @AM34 and @Marner93 debuted. #NHLStats pic.twitter.com/9j8d1Og3cB
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) April 2, 2019
It has been 15 years since the @MapleLeafs reached the #StanleyCup Playoffs in three or more consecutive seasons.
More #NHLStats: https://t.co/FlIP64jlb7 pic.twitter.com/w0ukZTQCQ8
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) April 2, 2019