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Isles humbled in bid for playoff spot

Get Spanked 7-1 by Wild Card-Leading Maple Leafs at Barclays Center

February 15, 2017 By John Torenli, Sports Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Toronto super rookie Auston Matthews and the rest of the Maple Leafs steamrolled the Islanders, 7-1, at Air Canada Centre on Tuesday night in a key matchup for Eastern Conference playoff positioning. AP photo
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The Islanders played their first unofficial “playoff” game of the season Tuesday night at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre.

And if this was any indication of how the Brooklyn-based franchise might perform come the NHL’s actual postseason, they may as well not qualify.

“As much as it’s just one loss, it’s a humbling loss,” Isles interim head coach Doug Weight admitted after his previously red-hot unit received a severe 7-1 spanking from the Maple Leafs in a game that could have thrust New York into the Eastern Conference’s eighth and final playoff spot.

“They played a playoff game tonight,” added Weight after the Isles slipped three points behind Toronto in the ongoing chase for a third consecutive postseason berth, and second in a row since arriving on the Downtown scene. “We played a hard game, but we didn’t play a playoff game, which is virtually what it was.”

Jason Chimera scored New York’s lone goal on a penalty shot in the second period. Unfortunately, the tally was sandwiched between three Toronto goals to open the contest and four more in the third period as Maple Leafs super rookie Auston Matthews burned the Isles twice in the final stanza.

“I think we came out and just played the right way — played fast, just like our slogan says,” noted Matthews, referring to Toronto’s “Play Fast. Play Right” mantra.

“When we do the right things, we’re definitely a tough team to play against.”

So are the Isles (25-20-10), who entered the contest having won 10 of its previous 15 games to climb out of the Eastern cellar and into the thick of a log-jammed race for a postseason berth.

But nothing went right for New York in this game as the Isles had a few shots bounce off the post behind Toronto netminder Frederik Andersen before Josh Leivo and Nazem Kadri snuck a couple of pucks past Thomas Greiss, who was eventually pulled after surrendering six goals on 34 shots.

“They got some bounces and we didn’t,” Chimera said. “We hit a couple of posts in the first period and I thought we deserved a little better the first couple of periods anyways.”

“We had some really good opportunities to make it a hockey game,” Weight added. “Credit to them. Andersen was really big in the net when he had to be in the first 30 [minutes]. We just had some lapses.”

The Isles also fell one point behind Philadelphia in the wild-card standings, meaning they can ill-afford any more extended lapses if they hope to complete this dramatic second-half turnaround.

They’ll be back at Barclays Center on Thursday night to host the New York Rangers in front of what should be a sellout crowd on the corners of Atlantic and Flatbush avenues.

“You have to forget about [this loss] and move on to the next game right away,” noted Chimera, who potted his 14th goal of the season before Toronto’s third-period blitz.

Having a short memory will certainly serve the Isles well against their arch rivals from across the East River Thursday.

But team captain John Tavares, who was held off the scoresheet despite registering seven shots on goal against his hometown team, believes New York must learn from the mistakes it made in Tuesday’s deflating defeat.

“You obviously lick your wounds a little bit tonight, review how we can be better tomorrow, try to make some adjustments,” Tavares said. “We want to be a little sharper, be a little better, probably be a little bit grittier than we were tonight for our next game.”

Isle Have Another: Backup goalie Jean-Francois Berube relieved Greiss with just over eight minutes remaining Tuesday night, stopping six of the seven shots he faced … Shane Prince missed the Toronto game with an upper-body injury and was replaced by Alan Quine, who managed three shots on goal in just over 10 minutes of ice time … The Islanders lost their season opener, 5-3, to the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 13, but avenged that defeat here in Brooklyn on Dec. 6, edging the Blueshirts 4-2. Last season, the Isles swept the four-game season series from the Rangers … Former Islander Matt Martin, one of the key veteran forwards the team lost to free agency this past summer, had two shots on goal and registered a plus-two in nine minutes of ice time for Toronto Tuesday.

 

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