Game in 10: Woll's goaltending, McMann's finishing powers Maple Leafs to 2-1 win over the Islanders

Your game in 10:

1. To the Islanders fans continuing to boo John Tavares seven years later: If the most tame, benign colour commentator in hockey, Craig Simpson, is going out of his way on the SN broadcast to implore you to “let it go,” it might be time to let it go.

2. There was nothing wrong with the Leafs‘ pace, energy, or zone time in the first period of this game. They outshot the Islanders 11-8 as a result, but the Isles edged the high-danger chances due to a few odd-man rushes and a couple of bad turnovers, including one by Tavares leading to a point-blank look for Mat Barzal.

Continuing his form from Tuesday’s win over the Isles, Joseph Woll needed to turn aside Anders Lee, Barzal, Kyle Palmieri, and Bo Horvat — four of the Isles’ five best producers up front — point blank in the first period to keep it at 0-0. Woll aced the early test.

Listening to Craig Berube talk recently, the quantity of odd-man rushes against has been a clear concern after a stingy first 30 or so games in this regard. In the first period, we saw a couple of examples of the two areas Berube recently highlighted: puck mismanagement in the danger areas (Connor Dewar didn’t get a puck deep at the line) and not enough awareness/urgency from the forwards tracking back (Bo Horvat beat the Leafs‘ forward down the ice as OEL stepped up. By contrast, Nick Robertson did a great job hustling back to break up a 3v2 at one point).

3. Since Matthews’ latest injury absence started with the 6-3 loss to NYI on Dec. 21, the Leafs have generally run Pacioretty – Tavares – Marner / Knies – Kampf or Holmberg – Nylander as their top six, with the exception of the Jets game.

At five-on-five, the top six has outscored the opposition 5-3 in the six games since Matthews re-aggravated his injury; not bad, but not particularly good or productive, especially for a team that has traditionally relied so heavily on its top six to drive the bus offensively. Notably, Nylander is currently playing his worst stretch of hockey this season (stated on a relative basis — not that he’s been unproductive), including a five-game goal-less drought.

Of course, none of this is surprising when the team loses Matthews and chooses to elevate a Kampf or Holmberg next to Nylander and Knies in order to keep the McMann – Domi – Robertson third line intact. But it does mean the third line has to not just be productive but also a consistent winner of its shifts in order to justify it as a credible stopgap strategy in Matthews’ absence (i.e., they can’t only be a rush offense threat that pots some goals).

The McMann – Domi – Robertson line scored later on in this game, but they also did a really good job of getting the team going in the first period with some offensive-zone shifts, in addition to a couple of odd-man rushes that they nearly converted. They’re now up 8-4 at five-on-five while controlling nearly 60% of the scoring chances.

It’s really noticeable how much of a different element they bring to the team and the speed they infuse into the lineup. They have the ability to break it open in transition and create odd-man rushes, which the team generally struggles to create otherwise (besides Nylander releasing the zone).

4. Unsurprisingly, given the two teams’ strengths in net/defensively and the fact that they’ve played each other three times since Dec. 21, this was a scoreless game as we broke the halfway mark of the second period.

A reverse hit in the offensive zone by Max Domi changed the course of the middle frame greatly. It started a chain reaction leading to the Leafs’ 1-0 goal as well as the Islanders’ tying goal.

The immediate impact was an injury to Isaiah George, who gingerly made his way back to the bench, while Casey Cizikas threw the puck away under pressure from Robertson. Robertson then found a wide-open McMann flying in off the bench, who showed his impressive goal-scoring instincts on the play. Recognizing the time at his disposal, McMann got his head up, out-waited the goalie, and ripped one by Ilya Sorokin clean at his near post.

McMann 11th of the Season vs Islanders courtesy of @Bonsie1951 and @Jim_Ralph. pic.twitter.com/gZYIOM7kUe

— Maple Leafs Hotstove (@LeafsNews) January 3, 2025

5. It was a fully legal/clean reverse hit by Domi against George, who went into it unprepared for contact, expecting to simply pin Domi against the wall. It goes without saying that with possession of the puck, a player can drive back or through a defender, whether it’s to take the puck to the net or protect it as Domi did. The elbow came up, but only as a result of the momentum from the original contact; Domi got George with his back in a textbook execution of the reverse hit.

The Islanders were convinced Domi had elbowed George in the head; they were taking runs at him at every opportunity, and Mayfield later made an elbowing motion at Domi during a faceoff.

Hudson Fasching dumped Domi in the corner, and this was when Domi went from shifting the game in his team’s favour with his physical spark to getting sucked into an undisciplined penalty. It would’ve been understandable/commendable for Domi to get up and challenge Fasching to drop the gloves or just to take a number. Domi reflexively lashed at Fasching with his stick, taking a tripping call in the process.

Domi tried his best to salvage it by taking an Islander with him to the box, to no avail. If Domi played this one a little smarter, he likely would’ve helped set up a goal with an awesome reverse hit and also drawn a penalty at some point in the game, as the Isles were definitely rattled by it.

6. From there, the period turned chaotic.

Joseph Woll made a couple of nice saves on the PK, including one on a Bo Horvat one-timer from the middle of the slot that sums up what makes Woll so good: so efficient with his tracking and positioning, and so consistently square to shooters, he makes difficult saves look really easy, as he swallowed this one up with no rebound.

The Leafs were nearly free and clear on this PK before Steven Lorentz jumped on the ice and got a bad break. The Islanders player in possession fanned on the puck initially and then sent it up the boards into Lorentz’s feet as Lorentz landed on the ice from the change, and it made contact with Lorentz’s skate for a too-many-men call.

This was the wrong call based on the rulebook:

… If in the course of a substitution either the player(s) entering the play or the player(s) retiring is struck by the puck accidentally, the play will not be stopped and no penalty will be called.

Of course, it would be different if Lorentz jumped on the ice outside of the five-foot rule or he intentionally played the puck, but Dewar was close enough to the bench from my view of it, and it was clearly an accidental contact with the puck by Lorentz. We’ve seen this mistakenly called before, though, as the optics of it and the reaction of the other bench can influence the refs to make the call.

7. Woll continued to play out of his mind on the 5-on-3/5-on-4, making a couple of fantastic post-to-post saves, and Marner fired a point-blank shorthanded chance high over the net. But in the aftermath of killing nearly four straight minutes of penalties, the Leafs didn’t regain their footing quickly enough at five-on-five, and the bad breaks continued.

OEL broke his stick while battling behind the net, got run over trying to get to the bench, and then Marner handed his stick off to OEL. Playing with a wrong-handed stick affected OEL’s ability to clear the puck, and the Leafs continued to scramble from there. Eventually, amid the chaos, Scott Mayfield scored at the back post to tie it up 1-1.

Woll conceded just two goals in this home-and-home versus the Isles, and both were unstoppable backdoor plays. Pretty much perfect goaltending.

8. Woll continued to be superb in the third period as the Leafs mustered just five shots on goal. When the karma came back around for the earlier too-many-men call courtesy of a late power-play opportunity for Toronto, the Leafs’ second unit — that’s right, their second unit! — won them the game.

Nylander did not remain on the ice with the second unit; this time, it was Marner, and it almost paid off immediately. Marner ripped a seam pass to Domi for a wide-open net, but Domi immediately one-touched passed it back to the top (it was like watching Marner himself receive the pass on a critical playoff power play).

The second unit broke through shortly afterward. It wasn’t a goal by a defenseman, but it was nice to see them score one off of a shot from the top courtesy of a defenseman who was expected to be much more of a factor offensively and on the power play this season than he has been in Oliver Ekman-Larsson.

“ROCKET MCMANN!”

McMann 12th of the Season vs Islanders courtesy of @Bonsie1951 and @Jim_Ralph. pic.twitter.com/gi1wxH5OUA

— Maple Leafs Hotstove (@LeafsNews) January 3, 2025

McMann continued to bear down with the finish, as he has done all season, scoring his 12th in his 31st game, a 32-goal pace over 82. It’s his third game-winner this season and his second-ever NHL power-play goal (his first on the power play came against Anaheim last February in one of the two big games in which he announced himself as an NHL regular).

9. A game-winning power-play goal was a fitting way for the Leafs to clinch their fourth straight road win. When the Leafs were 5-6-2 on the road before this recent tear, the PP% on the road was an abysmal 14.7%. The PP is now four for its last 11 away from home, even despite not looking particularly good recently.

It’s not rocket science; a competent-to-good power play is necessary for consistent success on the road (just one relevant anecdotal example: The Panthers have largely remained in the division race thanks to their road record, and they’re 31.4% on the PP away from home).

10. The Leafs faced some late pressure and a possible scare with a puck crossing the line after the whistle (correctly ruled no-goal on the ice and after the review), but they held on to start 2025 with a regulation victory.

The Leafs now start 2025 in sole possession of the division lead thanks to this win combined with Florida’s loss. Of course, a 105-point pace isn’t much different from past regular seasons, but as much as there is a lot of understandable indifference about regular-season success in Toronto, there is a real opportunity for a notable first in this Leafs era: a (real) division title, and a possible top seed in the conference that would guarantee the most favourable round-one matchup and home-ice advantage throughout. The Leafs would also be just four points back of the league-leading Jets if they were to win their game in hand.

The team is also winning games primarily on the back of elite goaltending and lock-down defense. The core is the same, the injury concerns around Matthews remain, and only the spring results ultimately matter. But in a lot of other ways, it is, at least, different.