Maple Leafs Sweep New York, Lose Hagman in Shootout Win

While it wasn't of the low-scoring variety of the past few nights, the Toronto Maple Leafs somehow found a way to do it again, pulling out a victory in the shootout, their fifth consecutive game that featured extra time.

The march for ninth place is officially on.

The Maple Leafs got goals from Ian White, Dominic Moore, Pavel Kubina, and Nik Antropov, but coughed up two, two goal leads and needed a shootout to get past the Islanders 5-4.

Rookie Tim Stapleton, playing his first-ever NHL game, scored the shootout winner.

Dean McAmmond, Sean Bergenheim, Mark Streit, and Jon Sim scored for the Islanders. Bergenheim was also stopped on a penalty shot.

Game Thoughts

--Just what in the hell is Brendan Witt thinking?  A guy who I have respected as a hard working defenseman, clearly lost it for a minute as he violently delivered an elbow to the head of an unsuspecting Niklas Hagman.  Hagman, a crafty forward who has the ability to make something out of nothing, will likely now miss more time with head and concussion problems.

--Not a real spectacular night for Toskala in goal.  He had a real great forty minutes, but fell apart in the third, and allowed a few goals he would no doubt like to have back.

--Another real solid night from Nikolai Kulemin.  The Russian forward is really beginning to look comfortable on the ice, and has shown an ability to go to the front of the net, something that has been somewhat missing from the Leafs game this season.

--What a fantastic finish to the game tonight, as rookie call up Tim Stapleton scored the shootout winning goal for the Leafs tonight.  Not only did Stapleton deserve the chance (he had played solid and was around the puck all night) but a move like this is great for team building.  

Derek's Three Stars

3rd Star: Tim Stapleton (shootout winner, 14:33 TOI)

2nd Star: Mark Streit (1G, 1A, 31:31 TOI)

1st Star: Ian White (1G, 1A, 29:19 TOI)

Unsung Hero Of The Game

Toronto: Jonas Frogren.  Frogren picked up an assist, and played over twenty-two hard, crease clearing minutes.

New York: Jon Sim (1G, 1A, +1)  Sim played just over eight minutes and scored the tying goal for the Islanders to force overtime.