TORONTO - Dwayne Roloson was under attack.

View Large

New York Islanders' John Tavares (L) fights off a check from Toronto Maple Leafs' Matt Stajan in front of the Leafs' net during the first period of their NHL hockey game in Toronto November 23, 2009.

Photograph by : Fred Thornhill/Reuters

ARTICLE TOOLS

• Printer friendly
• E-mail

Font:

• *
• *
• *
• *

The last time that the Leafs' shooters had been close to this active was on March 11, 2008, when the team took 55 shots in a 4-3 overtime win against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Monday night, the score was just as close. But Toronto, which tripled New York in shots, was the far superior team and likely deserved to win. The reason they did not was Roloson, who faced two games' worth of shots and was named the first star.

With 42.2 seconds remaining in overtime, Josh Bailey put a puck past Jonas Gustavsson for the game-winner. It was only the seventh shot that the Toronto goaltender had faced.

Toronto head coach Ron Wilson had warned his charges to beware of John Tavares. But it was not the rookie scoring leader who almost hurt the Leafs the most.

Roloson, who was making his second straight start, was nearly unbeatable.

It seemed like the more shots he faced, the better he played. He stopped all 20 attempts in the first period and allowed just one goal on 14 shots in the second. It was not until the third period, when the Leafs scored twice, that Toronto started to pick away at Roloson's armour.

The Leafs, who controlled most of the action in the early going, outshot the Islanders 20-9 in the first period. But despite having three power-play opportunities, Toronto could not put a single puck in the net.

Part of the problem was Roloson. The other problem was that too many of Toronto's shots hit the New York goaltender square in the chest.

With Toronto unable to capitalize on their chances, the score remained tied after 20 minutes. And in the second period, the Islanders made the Leafs pay a familiar price.

Vesa Toskala had silenced his critics with a 31-save performance against the Washington Capitals on Saturday. Two days later, the Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender was back to being booed after allowing three goals on six shots during the second period.

Jeff Tambellini kick-started the offence. He took a pass behind Toronto defencemen Ian White and Francois Beachemiun and then roofed a shot over Toskala's glove. A mere 79 seconds had gone by when Matt Moulson got his stick on a Jack Hillen point shot.

It was the 11th time this season that the Leafs have been down 2-0. But New York was not finished.

Less than two minutes later, with the Leafs on the man-advantage, Sean Bergenheim carried the puck over the blue-line and somehow beat Toskala with a wrist shot. Toronto's Phil Kessel scored on the same power play.

But that was it for Toskala.

Facing just four shots in the third period, Gustavsson had an easy time keeping his team in the game. And the Leafs, who piled on the rubber in the third period, began to mount a comeback.

Toronto pulled to within one on a goal from Wayne Primeau. Niklas Hagman then tied the game midway through the final frame on a highlight-reel rush for his ninth of the season.

National Post