New York @ Toronto preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 13, 2019 ) Toronto 4, NY Islanders 5

The Toronto Maple Leafs have turned up the heat over the last three weeks, sporting a sizzling 8-0-1 record to ascend into second place in the Atlantic Division. The Maple Leafs aim to continue their good fortune on Saturday when they open a three-game homestand against the New York Islanders.

William Nylander extended his scoring binge to five games (six goals, five assists) after collecting two goals and an assist in Toronto's 6-3 triumph over Winnipeg on Thursday. The 23-year-old also tallied in the first encounter against New York, but the Islanders skated away with a 5-4 victory on Nov. 13. New York was in the midst of its franchise-best 17-game point streak at that point, but the club has lost four of its last six contests (2-3-1) heading into their second meeting with the Maple Leafs. "When you have a streak like that, teams around the league are going to take notice and wait for you," Islanders center Derick Brassard said. "We ran into a lot of that. And now we're facing adversity for maybe the first time this season. It happens to every team. The key is to respond. I'm confident that we will."

TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: MSG-Plus, CBC, Sportsnet 360, Sportsnet Ontario, Sportsnet West, Sportsnet Pacific

ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (25-11-3): A "freak accident" prior to New York's 2-1 loss to New Jersey on Thursday resulted in a season-ending Achilles injury for defenseman Adam Pelech. The 25-year-old resides second in average ice time (21:08) behind fellow blue-liner Ryan Pulock, while his 2:47 per game on the penalty kill trails only defenseman Scott Mayfield (2:50). Blue-liner Sebastian Aho was summoned from Bridgeport of the American Hockey League to make his second stint with the Islanders, with whom he had four points (one goal, three assists) in 22 games in 2017-18.

ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS (23-14-5): Former Islanders captain John Tavares set up Nylander's third-period goal to increase his assist and point streaks (three goals, eight assists) to six games. Mitch Marner recorded his 20th point (seven goals, 13 assists) over his last 13 contests after scoring a power-play goal late in the second period on Thursday. Defenseman Tyson Barrie and Auston Matthews each set up Marner's goal, extending the former's assist and point streaks to five games (one goal, six assists) while giving the latter points in three consecutive contests (three goals, three assists).

OVERTIME

1. New York sports a 12-1-0 record against Atlantic Division teams while Toronto has dropped eight of 13 meetings versus Metropolitan foes (5-4-4).

2. Maple Leafs G Frederik Andersen owns a 7-2-1 record with one shutout in 10 career appearances against the Islanders.

3. New York's Brock Nelson has scored a goal in back-to-back games and resides one shy of fellow C Mathew Barzal (16) for the team lead.

PREDICTION: Islanders 4, Maple Leafs 3