The Fifth Liners

Last night whilst sat high up in the stands of the Air Canada Center in Toronto, I was witness to an offensive feast as the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the New York Islanders 5-2 in an entertaining game. The Leafs got off to a flying start when Trevor Smith beat Isles goalie Kevin Poulin after only 22 seconds played after great work by 1st star Joffrey Lupul The score remain this way for the rest of the period remainder but Jonathan Bernier was forced to make several impressive saves in net for Toronto! Mid way through the second period, Phil Kessel put the Leafs 2-0 up before Casey Cizikas gave the Isles a lifeline with 11.5 seconds left. Mason Raymond put Toronto firmly in charge after scoring a rebound early in the third period before a first leafs goal for David Clarkson pushed them 4-1 ahead! Frans Nielsen briefly gave New York hope with a goal late in the third before Kessel scored his second with 2.43 remaining. Bernier made 35 saves in net in an impressive performance but ...

The New York Islanders haven't won a Stanley Cup since 1983 and when they finished 8th in the conference, I doubt any Isles fan was happy about being drawn against the Pittsburgh Penguins . Expecting a quick end to their playoff campaign. I know I did. But those plucky Islanders are determined to cost me money (I bet on the Pens winning the series) and staged a mighty comeback to draw the series again. The Islanders netted 6 times with Brian Strait , Mark Streit , Kyle Okposo , John Tavares and Casey Cizikas all lighting the lamp. 3 of the goals came in the last 16 minutes of the game. James Neal , Evgeni Malkin , Brandon Sutter and Pascal Dupuis all scored for the Penguins. Playmaker Sidney Crosby managed a single assist for his team. Is this a resurgence from the 4 time cup winning Islanders? Can the Pens' new high profile trades make the difference and fight back? Watch this space.