First off, I’m going to start by explaining why the picture I used for tonight’s game article isn’t from tonight’s game. Minus the fact that this article was up rather quickly after the game, there’s a much more important factor this, and that’s in the jerseys. Yes, the Leafs are still wearing their aways that we saw tonight, but more importantly, the New York Islanders are actually wearing their home jerseys.

Seriously, I get that the idea that having an alternate jersey brings in extra money, don’t get me wrong, and I’m not against the idea of the Islanders having one, especially for that reason – this isn’t a team that pcokets a lot o of change. But I don’t think that there’s much worse they could’ve done in the design process. Swap the Blue and Orange on the home jersey? Cool,  do it. Change the Blue for Black? Still pretty weird, but why not. Do one of those oh so common faux-back’s with the shoulder patch logos? That would be fine too. Instead, they created a unfiorm so bad that it makes the Fisherman jerseys forgivable (though honest confession: They remain my all time favourite Isles jerseys).

It’s almost a disgrace to the NHL. Some jerseys have had bad elements, but these take all of them and combine them into one of the single most ridiculous articles of clothing I’ve ever seen. Anyway, that’s a really long introduction for a photo, so lets get to the hockey game.

Tonight saw the Leafs facing a weak New York Islanders roster, that’s currently 14th in the Eastern Conference. The Leafs, of course, shouldn’t be picking on standings, seeing as they’ve gradually slipped from first to sixth, and could’ve actually fallen into 9th tonight with a loss in addition to a Winnipeg win, but as it turned out, they would open things quickly and not entirely look back to win the game 5-3.

The first period opened up just the way you’d want it to. Tim Connolly, after getting the puck from Dion Phaneuf, would make a gorgeous pass to Clarke MacArthur, who scored his tenth of the year just two minutes in. Less than a minute later, the Leafs would earn their first powerplay of the game on a Marty Reasoner trip, leading to Nazem Kadri scoring his second goal in as many games to bring the lead to 2. Seven minutes later, the Leafs would extend it further, courtesy of a Carl Gunnarsson slapper, which gave Connolly and MacArthur their second points of the night, and Kadri his third consecutive goal to be on the ice for. The period wasn’t all brilliance, though – Keith Aulie would take two penalties in the next 8 minutes, and Kyle Okposo would score a nifty wrister to bring the game within two.

On to the second period, the Leafs wold start off on a poor note – yet another powerplay goal against for a team that continues to struggle on the penalty kill. Frans Nielsen would be the one to score it, and suddenly, the Islanders were in striking distance. A high sticking call to Cody Franson didn’t help this cause either, and while he was in the box a goal was scored. Thankfully, it was a Leafs shorthanded goal, and Joey Crabb would be the one to provide it.

The insanity wasn’t quite over yet, though. John Tavares, midway through the third period, brought the game back within one goal. The Islanders would continue to push, getting close a few times, but the wheels would finally start to fall off in the final few minutes, with three cross checks and a dive leading to two coincidental minor incidents in 41 seconds. Towards the end of the 4 on 4′s, the Leafs had an empty net to work with, Phil Kessel set up an Alley-oop for Joffrey Lupul, and the last goal of the game was scored for the Leafs.

Other Notes

James Reimer made 30 saves on 33 shots, which was good to see. Another strong night for him, and he gets a few nights off. I think he’s finally completely recovered from the concussion and the Leafs are getting consistency from him once again.

Clarke MacArthur and Tim Connolly both had multi-pont nights, but Nazem Kadri’s game can’t be underestimated either. The entire line is working great together, and I hope they stay together for a while.

Darryl Boyce and David Steckel were both a -2. And neither played particularly fantastic either in their approximately 9 minutes either. Not a huge concern as long as it doesn’t last.

John-Michael Liles didn’t play tonight to rest his neck. Jake Gardiner came back into the lineup in his place, and got an assist.

For an empty net goal, that Kessel assist was awesome. Small plays like that separate him from what we saw last year.

The Leafs, for now, remain in 6th in the Eastern Conference. This is the first time in years the Leafs have been in a playoff position near Christmas, so while its not how the season started – it’s still great to see when you consider everything.

Overall, this was a game that had a great start, a questionable rest of the game, but ultimately worked out in the end. The slip isn’t a process I’d really like to see repeated.