Music: {allcanada} MAPLE LEAFS (2-3-1) at ISLANDERS (4-1-0)

Monday, October 20, 2014

{allcanada} MAPLE LEAFS (2-3-1) at ISLANDERS (4-1-0)

Work From Home / The Fault in Our Stars / Divergent / The Descendants

MAPLE LEAFS (2-3-1) at ISLANDERS (4-1-0)

TV: TSN4, MSG PLUS 2

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

7:00 PM ET

Season series: This is the first of three games between the Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Islanders. New York won two of three games in 2013-14; the winning team had five goals in each of the games. The Maple Leafs’ Phil Kessel and Islanders’ Michael Grabner each had three goals. After the game Tuesday, the teams won't face each other again until Feb. 12 at Nassau Coliseum.

Maple Leafs team scope: Toronto will be looking to avoid a three-game skid Tuesday. The Maple Leafs earned one of a possible four points in their home-and-home series against the Detroit Red Wings, including a 1-0 overtime loss at Joe Louis Arena on Saturday. This will be the second of a three-game road trip that concludes Wednesday at the Ottawa Senators. Maple Leafs coach Randy Carlyle said Monday that forward David Booth is inching closer to returning; Booth sustained a fractured foot Sept. 28. "Booth is in a walking boot and off crutches, so he's starting to make his way back inch-by-inch," Carlyle told the Maple Leafs website. "He's been here, spending a lot of time in the weight room on a daily basis."

Islanders team scope: New York might be without the services of defenseman Travis Hamonic, who left practice Monday with an undisclosed injury. Hamonic is averaging 20:09 of ice time per game, second among Islanders defensemen behind Johnny Boychuk (23:09). Defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky could be ready to make his season debut. The 38-year-old previously had been unavailable because of a back injury. "When you look at 11 and the way he plays, he's an elusive guy on the back end," coach Jack Capuano said of Visnovsky. "[He's] a little bit like Nick Leddy that he can bring the puck out, that can create some separation on the forecheck from the opposition. At the same time, he's an offensive guy that gets up in the play, he reads the rush really well. We're always looking for that. The games that we've played and the games that we've won this year, our defense has been heavily involved in the offense and we want to continue to do that with that defense-first mentality."

Team Stats