Islanders extend point streak to 13 with win against Maple Leafs
via NHL.com
The New York Islanders extended their point streak to 13 games with a 5-4 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Nassau Coliseum on Wednesday.
Anthony Beauvillier scored two goals, Derick Brassard had one goal and two assists, and Mathew Barzal had a goal and an assist for New York (13-3-1), which hung on after nearly blowing a three-goal lead late in the third period. Semyon Varlamov made 23 saves.
The Islanders are 12-0-1 during the point streak.
“Our power play was really good (2-for-3) and our penalty kill was pretty good today (2-for-2),” Islanders coach Barry Trotz said. “Our 5-on-5, our 6-on-5 towards the end, we’ve got to clean that up. That might be our meeting tomorrow.”
John Tavares had a goal and an assist for Toronto (9-7-4), which has lost two in a row following a five-game point streak (3-0-2). Frederik Andersen made 25 saves.
The Maple Leafs were outshot 15-9 in the third period after controlling the play for much of the second. Justin Holl and Tavares scored 1:09 apart late in the third after Toronto trailed 5-2.
“The bottom line is we’re through 20 games now, and when you evaluate what we’ve done in 20 games, we don’t like it as a group,” Toronto coach Mike Babcock said. “We think we can be better, and we’ll identify the areas again here tomorrow as we go through it and grind our way out of this.
“We got ourselves in the spot we’re in, we’ve got to grind our way out of it.”