1ST PERIOD NOTES;
There are an incredible number of empty seats for the start of this game.The Islanders Kyle Okposo penalized for hooking at 39 seconds. The Toronto power play is ineffective, not generating any chances. Kyle Okposo penalized again for tripping at 5;30. Dwayne Roloson covers up on a scramble in front of the net on the power play. Roloson makes a nice save on Phil Kessel and Vesa Toskala stops Richard Park on a breakaway on the Toronto power play. Matt Moulson fans on the puck on a turnover in the Toronto zone. The Islanders take another bad penalty, as Jack Hillen gets called for holding at 11;36. Roloson has made several good saves when called upon and doesn’t allow rebounds out.Trent Hunter hits the crossbar on a shot from inside the blue line. Okposo and Frans Nielsen buzz the Toronto net and get a scoring chance which they fail to complete. The Leafs outshot the Islanders 20-9 and Dwayne Roloson was the difference maker in this period.
2ND PERIOD NOTES;
Jamal Mayers penalized for interference at 9 seconds. Toskala makes a good save on a point shot from Okposo. The action in the second period is slow compared to the first, probably because the Islanders are not in the penalty box. Roloson makes a close in save on Mikhail Grabovski in front of the net. Toskala also makes a good save in front of the Leafs net.Alexei Ponikarovsky gets penalized for delay of game at 8;40. Roloson stops Blake on a shorthanded breakaway. Jeff Tambellini scores on a breakaway with a beautiful shot to the corner at 11;04. Matt Moulson scores tipping in a shot from the point after a turnover by Jason Blake gave the Islanders possession, at 12;23. The Islanders Andy Sutton gets called for holding at 12;43. Sean Bergenheim scores on a beautiful wrist shot that beats Toskala, as the fans boo quite loudly at 14;17, a shorthanded goal to make the score 3-0. Toronto scores on a Stajan pass from an Islander turnover , and feeding the puck to Kessel who puts the puck in the open side of the net at 15;32. Jonas Gustavsson goes in goal for the Leafs, after Vesa Toskala pulls himself out of the game because he tweaked his groin, which had been previously injured this season. Stajan causes a dangerous opportunity when his pass hits a skate in the Leafs zone going back toward the Toronto net.. After two periods, Toronto has outshot the Islanders 35-16.
3RD PERIOD NOTES;
Roloson makes more smart saves at the start of the period. Wayne Primeau scores on a rebound in front of the net stemming from an Ian White shot from the point at 2;10. The Islanders take a penalty and they don’t seem to be able to play with a lead. They seem absolutely lost on how to play any kind of strategic hockey.Mark Streit gets called for holding the stick at 4;10. The Islanders are barely hanging on, not being able to generate any offense at all. Niklas Hagman scores easily by speeding around Islanders defenseman Freddy Meyer, and scoring on Roloson at 9;18. John Tavares creates a break for himself but goes in on a bad angle toward the Leafs net. The Islanders take another penalty, Nate Thompson for holding at 17;04. Toronto outshot New York 23-4 in the period.
OVERTIME AND GAME SUMMARY;
Roloson makes a good glove save on a hard shot from the point.The Maple Leafs pressure the Islanders again and Roloson makes all the difficult saves. Toronto loses in overtime !!!!-UN- BE – LEAF- ABLE! The Islanders score on one of the few chances they have, As Josh Bailey scores right in front of the Leafs net at 4;18 of the period,on a beautiful passing play, to give New York the 4-3 win. Dwayne Roloson is now 7-2-5 on the season. Toronto dominated in the faceoff department by 42-24 while the Islanders had the edge in one category. The Islanders outhit the Leafs 21-7, although you wouldn’t know it to watch the game.
I spoke with Roloson after the game, and he told me he enjoys the games when he has a lot of shots, even when it gets up around 60 in one game. He was not at all stressed by his extraordinary work load after the game. The Simcoe, Ontario native told me that he especially enjoys playing in Toronto. Leafs fans might remember Roloson from his time with the Buffalo Sabres, playing against the Leafs in the 1999 Conference Finals in a couple of games. The Sabres won that best of 7 in 5 games. Roloson played some amazing hockey a few seasons ago for the Edmonton Oilers on their lengthy playoff run in 2006, when Roloson had a 12-5 post- season record along with a G.A.A. of 2.33, before getting hurt in game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals, which the Oilers lost in 7 games to the Carolina Hurricanes. Last season with Edmonton, he played in 36 consecutive games, in trying to lead the Oilers back into the playoffs, which they did not qualify for, in spite of his determined effort. Roloson’s 58 saves this evening, are a career high and broke an Islander club record of 56, held by Rick DiPietro. Roloson is at present, the only N.H.L. goaltender over 40 years of age.