How did the Islanders fare against Sheldon Keefe's Maple Leafs?
How did the Islanders fare against Sheldon Keefe's Maple Leafs?
The Metropolitan Division's lone coaching vacancy was filled on Wednesday as Sheldon Keefe will be named the next head coach of the New Jersey Devils:
With Keefe's hiring, the New York Islanders will now face a coach they are familiar with when they square off with their Garden State rival.
The Islanders faced off with Keefe's former team, the Toronto Maple Leafs, 10 times after he assumed coaching duties in November of 2019.
While the number could've been higher if not for the COVID-19 pandemic, the Islanders finished 5-5-0 against Toronto with Keefe behind the bench.
Their first matchup is on Jan. 4, 2020.
In that game, Michael Hutchinson was the star of the show, making 33 saves in a clean sheet. Pierre Engvall opened the scoring for Toronto in the second period, with Auston Matthews adding on before Zach Hyman sealed it on an empty netter in the third for a 3-0 win.
The two teams didn't meet for another 687 days due to the travel restrictions imposed by the pandemic, but their next full season series was one to forget.
2021-22:
The two teams first met again on Nov. 22, 2021, the second-ever game at UBS Arena.
With the Islanders ravaged by COVID-related absences, goaltending once again took center stage.
Joseph Woll stopped 40 New York shots, with a shorthanded marker by Mitch Marner being the lone goal through 40 minutes. Toronto managed to pull away late with goals by Ondrej Kase and Marner, his second, in another 3-0 win.
Their second matchup on Jan. 22 wasn't quite a perfect game for Toronto goaltending, but it once again made the difference.
After Marner and Zach Parise traded goals in the first, Engvall scored inside the final second of the frame, taking the wind out of New York's sails. Morgan Reilly made it a 3-1 game in the middle period, a score that held all the way to the end.
Their last meeting of the season, on Apr. 17, was the final nail in the coffin of a disappointing Islanders campaign.
Anthony Beauvillier and Josh Bailey lit the lamp across the first 40 minutes, but Marner, Engvall, and William Nylander put Toronto up 3-2.
New York couldn't muster any offense in the final period, with David Kampf icing away both the game and Islanders' playoff hopes for that year in the third of a 4-2 loss.
2022-23:
The Islanders and Maple Leafs met for the first time the following year on Nov. 21, 2022.
After a tough midwest road trip, the Islanders found themselves down one entering the dying minutes of regulation. Noah Dobson had the Islanders' lone red light to that point, while John Tavares and Nylander had Toronto's goals, both in the second.
However, an Erik Källgren turnover opened the door for Josh Bailey to tie the game late and Beauvillier to pot the overtime winner of a 3-2 decision:
Game two, taking place on Jan. 23, 2023, was Samuel Bolduc's NHL debut.
Anders Lee had two goals in the game, but the second period proved to be the difference in the contest. Toronto got red lights from three different players, two from Nylander and one from Tavares and Calle Jarnkrok, to make it 4-2 through 40 minutes en route to a 5-2 Maple Leaf win.
The Islanders' final meeting of the season, on March 21, was a complete team effort.
Sam Lafferty opened the scoring in the first, but New York responded with three-straight goals in the second from Parise, Hudson Fasching, and Cal Clutterbuck.
While Marner cut the deficit in half early in the final period, the Islanders had another emphatic answer, getting four-straight goals from Clutterbuck, Simon Holmstrom, Dobson, and Lee to finish a 7-2 win.
2023-24:
This past season saw a rare feat in the history of the Islanders-Maple Leafs rivalry, but not in the way Keefe would’ve liked.
The Islanders swept the Maple Leafs aside, coming away with three close victories in the process.
The rivalry was first renewed on Dec. 11, 2023, with Tavares, a former Islander, sitting on 998 points.
Matthews scored on the power play to break the ice, but the Islanders had a big answer with goals from Brock Nelson, Casey Cizikas, and Palmieri between the first and second periods.
Tavares cut the lead in half to give him 999 points, and in the dying second of the third, the Toronto captain deflected a puck to Reilly, who got him his 1,000th NHL point against his former team.
While the Maple Leafs bench emptied to celebrate the achievement, the party was short-lived. In the ensuing overtime, Mathew Barzal connected with Bo Horvat on a two-on-one, with the Islanders' center burying the puck to finish a 4-3 New York win:
Their second meeting, taking place on Jan. 11, was almost the opposite of their first matchup.
Palmieri scored an early power-play red light in the first, but a goal from Bobby McMann and two from Matthews gave Toronto a 3-1 lead early in the second.
However, Alexander Romanov and Horvat each got red lights to make it 3-3 after 40 minutes, a score that held after regulation time.
In the extra session, Barzal capped off a four-point night with the overtime winner, giving New York their second 4-3 win in as many meetings with the Maple Leafs:
In what is now the last time Keefe coached Toronto against the Islanders on Feb. 5, it was one of his former players who played hero for New York.
Barzal opened the scoring for New York in the first, with Marner responding for Toronto early in the second. Kyle MacLean's first NHL goal had the Islanders up after 40 minutes, but a Tavares power-play marker tied it up at two inside the final five minutes.
However, it was Engvall, now a member of the Islanders, who came up with a big-time response to give New York a 3-2 victory in regulation:
The victory capped off the Islanders' first sweep of the Maple Leafs since 1987-88.
Lee's three goals in those 10 games led New York, with Dobson leading with eight assists and 10 points.
Barzal was second in points with eight (two goals, six assists).
All told, the Islanders have had their share of good and bad moments against Keefe.
While some games were offensive struggles and ones they couldn't keep up, they also have their share of statement wins and timely comebacks.
With Keefe making the jump to another team with a talented core in the Devils, the Islanders can apply the experience from previous wins as he takes over behind the bench of a division rival.
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