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Maple Leafs Shut Out Islanders, 2-0

.c The Associated Press 

TORONTO (AP) - Ed Belfour made 25 saves for his fifth shutout of the season as the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the New York Islanders 2-0 Tuesday night.

Mikael Renberg and Gary Roberts scored for the Maple Leafs, who are still first in the Eastern Conference with 61 points despite winning just two of their last six games.

The Philadelphia Flyers, who lost Tuesday, are second with 59.

Belfour, rarely tested in the first two periods, recorded his 70th career shutout, three fewer that New Jersey's Martin Brodeur on the active list.

The Maple Leafs lost yet another player to injury when Darcy Tucker didn't return after New York's Jason Blake high-sticked him in the face near the end of the second period. Tucker went after Blake after initially dropping to the ice.

The Maple Leafs are already missing forwards Owen Nolan, Alexander Mogilny, Robert Reichel and Wade Belak as well as defenseman Ken Klee.

Nolan missed his eighth straight game after being high-sticked in the left eye on Jan. 3. He expects to return next Tuesday.

Blake didn't receive a penalty for high-sticking Tucker, yet six of the nine penalties called in the game were for high-sticking.

Toronto managed just four shots in the first period, but took a 1-0 lead on Renberg's one-timer from the faceoff circle at 9:02.

New York's Mattias Weinhandl hit the post with a shot midway through the second.

The Islanders managed just one shot in the first 10 minutes of the third, but 11 in the final 10 minutes.

Belfour stacked the pads and robbed Blake of a goal with six minutes left. Fans chanted 'Eddie!, Eddie!' after the save.

Toronto's Mats Sundin made a pass from behind the net to Roberts, who gave Toronto 2-0 with 2:39 left. Renberg also assisted.

The Islanders emptied their net with just over a minute left.

Notes:@ New York ended Toronto's 16-game point streak on Dec. 27 at Nassau Coliseum. ... Toronto defenseman Tomas Kaberle returned after missing five games with a shoulder injury. ... New York's Alexei Yashin and Mark Parrish are sidelined with injuries.

Toronto lost consecutive games to Philadelphia this past weekend.

Fights: None

islesinfo comment: While the Islanders have been dominant at home this season, they have been equally as bad on the road. 17 of the Islanders 22 wins have come at home. They have not yet won on the road in the 2004 calendar year. They will get a chance to change that as the Isles continue their 3 game road trip with a matchup against Carolina Friday night and Atlanta Saturday night.  

Isles Scratches: C Justin Mapletoft, D Sven Butenschon
Injuries: RW Mark Parrish, C Alexei Yashin

Lineups:

ISLANDERS
FORWARDS
(21) Mariusz Czerkawski-(12) Oleg Kvasha-(11) Mattias Weinhandl
(55) Jason Blake-(27) Michael Peca-(7) Trent Hunter
(17) Shawn Bates-(38) Dave Scatchard-(45) Arron Asham
(26) Justin Papineau-(77) Cliff Ronning-(49) Eric Godard

DEFENSEMEN
(3) Adrian Aucoin-(24)Radek Martinek
(29) Kenny Jonsson-(4) Roman Hamrlik
(33) Eric Cairns-(44) Janne Niinimaa

GOALTENDERS
(30) Garth Snow
(39) Rick DiPietro

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS
FORWARDS
(7) Gary Roberts-(13) Mats Sundin-(19) Mikael Renberg
(16) Darcy Tucker-(14) Matt Stajan-(28) Tie Domi
(23) Alexei Ponikarovsky-(25) Joe Nieuwendyk-(80) Nik Antropov
(12) Tom Fitzgerald-(39) Clarke Wilm-(26) Nathan Perrott

DEFENSEMEN
(24) Bryan McCabe-(15) Tomas Kaberle
(29) Karel Pilar-(8) Aki Berg
(45) Carlo Coliacovo-(27) Bryan Marchment

GOALTENDERS
(20) Ed Belfour
(37) Trevor Kidd

 

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period Scoring

TOR:Mikael Renberg 7 (Tomas Kaberle, Gary Roberts) 9:02 1st Period Penalties TOR: Mikael Renberg (High-sticking, 2:00) 3:53 NYI: Eric Godard (Holding, 2:00) 11:22 NYI: Mattias Weinhandl (Cross-checking, 2:00) 17:17

2nd Period Scoring

None. 2nd Period Penalties TOR: Alexei Ponikarovsky (High-sticking, 2:00) 5:15 NYI: Radek Martinek (High-sticking, 2:00) 10:53 TOR: Mats Sundin (Stick Holding, 2:00) 11:47

3rd Period Scoring

TOR:Gary Roberts 17 (Mats Sundin, Mikael Renberg) 17:21 3rd Period Penalties NYI: Roman Hamrlik (High-sticking, 2:00) 1:55 NYI: Eric Cairns (High-sticking, 2:00) 7:08 TOR: Alexei Ponikarovsky (High-sticking, 2:00) 12:59

Shots	1st	2nd	3rd	Total
New York Islanders	6	7	12	25
Toronto Maple Leafs	4	11	6	21

Power-Play Conversions: TOR: 0 of 5, NYI: 0 of 4

Goalies:
Ny Islanders: Garth Snow (21 shots, 19 saves; record: 12-12-3). 
Toronto: Ed Belfour (25 shots, 25 saves; record: 21-14-5).

 

ISLANDERS Player G A +/- Shots TOI Dave Scatchard 0 0 -1 3 18:10 Kenny Jonsson 0 0 0 3 21:37 Radek Martinek 0 0 -1 2 12:11 Mattias Weinhandl 0 0 0 2 13:04 Justin Papineau 0 0 0 2 06:52 Jason Blake 0 0 -1 2 20:13 Oleg Kvasha 0 0 0 2 19:44 Adrian Aucoin 0 0 0 2 29:28 Roman Hamrlik 0 0 -1 2 21:26 Trent Hunter 0 0 -1 1 17:48 Arron Asham 0 0 -1 1 17:22 Shawn Bates 0 0 -2 1 16:21 Mariusz Czerkawski 0 0 0 1 11:06 Cliff Ronning 0 0 0 1 14:56 Eric Godard 0 0 0 0 02:48 Eric Cairns 0 0 0 0 09:59 Janne Niinimaa 0 0 -2 0 25:03 Michael Peca 0 0 0 0 13:00 Garth Snow 0 0 0 0 58:52

MAPLE LEAFS Player G A +/- Shots TOI Mikael Renberg 1 1 +2 1 12:51 Gary Roberts 1 1 +2 1 20:38 Mats Sundin 0 1 +2 4 20:42 Matthew Stajan 0 0 0 2 09:59 Karel Pilar 0 0 +1 2 21:00 Nik Antropov 0 0 0 2 17:21 Darcy Tucker 0 0 0 2 12:35 Aki Berg 0 0 +1 2 17:09 Nathan Perrott 0 0 0 1 09:04 Alexei Ponikarovsky 0 0 0 1 13:03 Clarke Wilm 0 0 0 1 12:12 Bryan McCabe 0 0 +1 1 29:00 Joe Nieuwendyk 0 0 +1 1 16:47 Carlo Colaiacovo 0 0 0 0 13:34 Tomas Kaberle 0 1 +1 0 26:17 Tom Fitzgerald 0 0 0 0 14:44 Bryan Marchment 0 0 0 0 13:00 Tie Domi 0 0 0 0 12:07 Ed Belfour 0 0 0 0 59:57

Stars: Tomas Kaberle(TOR), Ed Belfour(TOR), Mikael Renberg(TOR)
Referees: Terry Gregson, Kelly Sutherland
Linesmen: Scott Driscoll, Derek Nansen
Attendance:19,367

IslesInfo Pregame Preview

Islanders-Maple Leafs Preview

.c The Associated Press 

GAME: New York Islanders (22-19-4-1) at Toronto Maple Leafs (24-12-8-3).

TIME: Tuesday, 7:30 p.m. EST.

Cliff Ronning has quickly made Mike Milbury look like a genius.

Ronning will look to continue his fast start with the New York Islanders when they travel to Toronto to resume their developing rivalry with the Maple Leafs.

Signed 10 days ago as a free agent to offset injuries to Alexei Yashin and Mark Parrish, the 38-year-old Ronning has made an immediate impact for the Islanders and general manager Milbury. The power-play specialist has scored three goals in his last two games, including two in Monday's 5-2 win over Ottawa.

Ronning, who has 848 points in his 16-year career, also notched his 300th goal in the win. He says he couldn't be happier to be playing on Long Island.

``I was skating with beer-league players before I came here, and I realized how much I loved the game,'' Ronning said. ``Even at 40-50, you may not be able to live this dream of playing in the NHL, but you realize how much you play the game for the love of it.''

With the win, the Islanders moved into sole possession of eighth place in the Eastern Conference, two points ahead of the archrival Rangers, who lost 5-2 in Boston on Monday.

``I look at it as two points rather than who we beat,'' Islanders coach Steve Stirling said, referring to Ottawa, which would be the fourth seed in the East if the season ended today. ``Yes, it's nice, but the points are the most important thing.''

The Islanders and Maple Leafs have developed one of the more heated rivalries in the NHL, dating to their physical 2001-02 first-round playoff series, which Toronto won in seven games.

The struggling Maple Leafs should come into this contest extremely motivated as they are just 3-5-1 this month and probably still have bitter memories of the Islanders' 3-1 win on Dec. 27 at Nassau Coliseum, which ended Toronto's 16-game point streak.

Tied with Philadelphia for the top spot in the East, the Maple Leafs were outscored 8-1 in a home-and-home sweep by the Flyers during the weekend.

In just over a week, the Maple Leafs have lost four games to the top three teams in the East - Ottawa, New Jersey, Philadelphia - by a combined score of 16-2.

Toronto goaltender Ed Belfour, pulled in the first period Friday after allowing three goals on 12 shots, allowed four on 24 Saturday.

``We made errors in our end that you can't do against the top teams,'' Leafs captain Mats Sundin said. ``We have to have a better effort against the top teams.''

Toronto forwards Owen Nolan, Alexander Mogilny, Robert Reichel and Wade Belak as well as defensemen Tomas Kaberle and Ken Klee are out with injuries.

STANDINGS: Islanders - 49 points, 3rd place, 10 PB, Atlantic Division. Maple Leafs - 59 points, 1st place, Northeast Division.

TEAM LEADERS: Islanders - Mariusz Czerkawski and Trent Hunter, 15 goals; Adrian Aucoin, 25 assists; Czerkawski, Hunter and Jason Blake, 29 points; Eric Cairns, 111 PIM. Maple Leafs - Sundin and Gary Roberts, 16 goals; Sundin, 28 assists and 44 points; Tie Domi, 111 PIM.

SPECIAL TEAMS (through Jan. 18): Islanders - Power play: 16.1 percent (29 for 180), 11th in NHL. Penalty killing: 83.4 percent (171 for 205), 18th (tied). Maple Leafs - Power play: 18.8 percent (41 for 218), 8th. Penalty killing: 85.4 percent (193 for 226), 12th.

GOALTENDERS: Islanders - Garth Snow (12-11-3, 1 SO, 2.76 GAA); Rick DiPietro (10-9-1, 1, 2.37). Maple Leafs - Belfour (19-14-5, 4, 2.34); Trevor Kidd (3-1-1, 1, 2.59).

SEASON SERIES: Islanders, 2-0.

LAST MEETING: Dec. 27; Islanders, 3-1. At Uniondale, N.Y., Mark Parrish scored two goals and Mattias Weinhandl added the other for New York. Darcy Tucker scored for Toronto.

ROAD/HOME RECORDS: Islanders - 5-11-4-1 on the road; Maple Leafs - 12-5-2-2 at home.

Lets Go Isles!