Islanders @ Maple Leafs: Toronto’s Cup weekend continues [Game #50]
Friendship is over. | Photo by Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images
The Isles kick off the post-break stretch drive in Toronto, who should be ready. The part of the Taranna media/fanbases who clutch their pearls at Islanders fans booing their walkaway captain tend to act like Isles-Leafs matchups are “[Isles fans’] Stanley Cup” (particularly when the Leafs lose), so it’s only fit to note that tonight’s game continues what was a Stanley Cup weekend for the Leafs.
After hosting the All-Star Game, Toronto’s stars were anointed as heroes for winning the 3-on-3 tournament (ah, but with “the Kid Who Won the Calder” among them!), a topic covered with the usual hilarity in the latest Islanders Anxiety episode.
So there’s that backdrop to tonight, for those who went about the weekend that way, as the “storybook” continues for the Leafy heroes.
More pertinent, the Isles need every point they can get as they look to rebound under new coach Patrick Roy, and key defensemen Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock are gametime decisions to return from injury.
Chief Leaf storybook maker Luke Fox Jukebox turns the Myth-in-the-Making lens on the Isles and Patrick Roy in this piece, quoting a fired-up Matt Martin and an optimistic Roy, among others. Max Domi, who always has the right hockey cliche, notes that the Isles will be fired up under their new coach and the Leafs will be ready to match it.
In the net, the Leafs are going with Ilya Samsanov, so we can expect another Ilya vs. Ilya affair.
This is our in-game chat thread, where we pack all the self-loathing we can fit into a technologically so-so package....
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