Leafs hope for answers on Long Island
Pals when they were teammates with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Nazem Kadri and Leo Komarov likely will see plenty of each other tonight when the New York Islanders host Toronto.
At the least, we would expect Kadri and Komarov to spend much of the evening chirping at each other. Each has the ability to get under the opponents’ skin. Whether they can have that impact on each other could make for a fun subplot.
Here are five things to watch for when Toronto (45-26-7) plays the Islanders (46-26-7) at Nassau Coliseum:
1
End to Fred’s funk
No April fooling — Frederik Andersen can’t play mediocre hockey forever, right? The Maple Leafs’ No. 1 goalie will have a few chances this week to get his game in proper order for the playoffs and it has to start on Long Island. Andersen had an .890 save percentage in 11 games in March and allowed 33 even-strength goals. By comparison, in 11 games in November, he had a .942 save percentage and allowed 16 evenstrength goals. 2 Rosen’s return Calle Rosen has been recalled from the Toronto Marlies and is expected to play in his first NHL game since Oct. 17, 2017. Rosen has developed into a fine twoway defenceman in the minors and it’s imperative he performs that way for the Leafs.
3
Tavares’ return, Part 2
John Tavares’ first game against the Islanders went terribly, as the Leafs couldn’t get past a nasty crowd and were clobbered 6-1 on Feb. 28. The Leafs have not been great since, going 6-5-3.
4
Matthews’ consistency
The Leafs have won just three of 10 games but Auston Matthews has been doing his part on offence, scoring seven goals and assisting on five others in that span. It’s without the puck that Matthews has to go to a higher level before the playoffs start. A hostile environment in New York will be similar to what the Leafs will experience next week in Boston. Matthews needs to be better than he was last spring, when he had two points in seven games.
5
Missing in action
Kasperi Kapanen has one goal in his past 18 games, while Andreas Johnsson has one in his past 15. tkoshan@postmedia.com