UNIONDALE, N.Y. — The New York
Islanders defied their recent history to knock off a Stanley Cup
contender and a bottom-feeder in less than 24 hours.
Despite having the NHL's second-worst
penalty kill and third-worst power play, the Islanders killed off seven
penalties and scored power-play and short-handed goals in a 4-1 victory
over the lowly Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday.
Richard Park scored the short-handed
goal and added an assist. Martin Biron made 26 saves, stopping all nine
shots in the third period as New York won home games against New Jersey
and Toronto.
"We feel like we owe each other
results and consistency," Biron said. "When you play with the attitude
and dedication we have right now, you have that sense you're going to
play well."
Tim Jackman, Frans Nielsen and Matt
Moulson also scored and Blake Comeau added three assists to help the
Islanders win their second straight following a four-game losing streak.
Nikolai Kulemin's goal in the opening
minute marked Toronto's only offense. The Maple Leafs had their
season-high winning streak snapped at three.
"We certainly didn't make it easy with
the penalties," Islanders coach Scott Gordon said. "To be able to use
our penalty kill to close the deal is nice. It's been a concern of ours,
the special teams."
The Islanders killed all seven Maple
Leafs power plays, including four in the final period and scored
short-handed for the second consecutive game. New York will now head on a
four-game trip with the first three against Western Conference teams.
"I think the guys are playing more
loose the last couple of games and it's been paying off for us," Comeau
said.
Park had his fifth multipoint game
and has three points in his last two games.
Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 28 saves
for Toronto. The Islanders moved seven points in front of the Maple
Leafs for last place in the Eastern Conference.
"When you get a lot of opportunities
on the power play, you need to take advantage of it," Giguere said.
"We're a team that has a lot of speed to draw penalties. We need to find
a way to create traffic in front, get dirty and score some big goals."
With both teams coming off games
Saturday, Toronto jumped to an early lead off Kulemin's breakaway goal
57 seconds in. Defenseman Mikhail Grabovski caught the defense pinching
in and hit Kulemin with a blue-line breakout pass. Kulemin took the feed
in stride and lifted a wrist shot over Biron's stick for his second
goal in two games.
Jackman and Park responded by scoring
6:04 apart. Almost two minutes after the Maple Leafs struck, Jackman
tipped in a rebound between Giguere's legs.
Park picked up the assist on
Jackman's goal, and added his short-handed goal at 8:55, wristing a
high-slot shot past Giguere.
"We were a little sloppy and weren't
as tight as we wanted to be offensively or defensively," Giguere said.
"We showed tonight a lack of maturity. The key is to learn from it."
New York limited Toronto to seven
shots in the second period, while Nielsen's goal with 1:38 left extended
the lead to 3-1.
Three New York hooking penalties and a
bench minor for too many men on the ice gave Toronto a chance to rally.
But the Maple Leafs generated just six fruitless power-play shots to
fall to 9-20-7 on the road. Only Edmonton has fewer road victories.
"We're just not setting up and
letting the puck do some work for us," Toronto coach Ron Wilson said.
"We're holding onto pucks and when we do get a shot, we're not winning
any puck battles in the slot to get a rebound or make a play."
In the third period, Moulson scored
his team-leading 25th goal, tipping in Josh Bailey's centering pass for a
power play goal with 2:20 left.
Notes
New York recalled rookie
winger Mike Martin from the AHL before the game. Martin replaced LW Jeff
Tambellini, who sat out with a strained groin. … LW Trevor Gillies
picked up the secondary assist on Park's goal for his first NHL point.