John Tavares controversially left the Islanders in the offseason to sign a seven-year, $77 million deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs, his hometown team.

But at the All-Star break, his Maple Leafs trail the Islanders in the Eastern Conference standings by one point.

"They're having a tremendous season. Obviously, it's a complete 180 on the defensive side," Tavares said, according to Newsday's Mark Herrmann. "Goaltending has been a big part of that, but just not giving up a whole lot defensively and it's leading to a lot of success, a lot of wins."

TORONTO -- The New York Rangers will need to be wary of the Toronto Maple Leafs revived power play Saturday night when the teams meet at the Scotiabank Arena.

After the Maple Leafs struggled through an 0-for-17 drought with the man advantage in their previous four games, they were 3-for-3 on the power play Thursday night in a 6-1 victory over the Florida Panthers.

"I don't think there was any sense of panic," said Maple Leafs center John Tavares, who scored twice, once on a power play Thursday. "We just tried to fine-tune, refocus, look at some things, get some practice time, some good video sessions, talk about it and sometimes you just get some better bounces and get rewarded. Overall, got some good results there and obviously, want to carry it forward."

The Islanders' Feb. 28 game against the Toronto Maple Leafs will be played at Nassau Coliseum rather than Barclays Center -- and John Tavares, for one, is looking forward to it.

The former Isles captain knows he'll hear plenty of boos after leaving his longtime team to sign with the Leafs this past summer. But Tavares told The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun that he's nevertheless excited to return to where he developed into an NHL star.

"Yeah I mean, it's really out of my control,'' Tavares said of how Islanders fans will receive him. "However they feel is how they feel. All I hope is that they saw me give all I had for nine years and that I was completely invested in being an Islander. I loved it there. I made a decision that I thought was best for myself and my career. That place still means a lot to me. A lot of great people who had a big impact in my life and a big reason I am who I am today. But obviously they're very proud and protective of their hockey team and what it means to them. They're not very nice to the visitor, at least when I was still part of it, and I'm sure it'll be similar for myself. But it'll be fun to play in.'' 

After a back-and-forth first period, the Devils took command in the second and eventually scored their way to a 6-3 win over the Maple Leafs on Wednesday night. >> Read more

First Period

• 8:33 TOR James van Riemsdyk (Power Play); Assists: Mitchell Marner, Morgan Rielly
• 9:07 NJD Miles Wood; Assists: Steven Santini, Will Butcher
• 10:45 NJD Miles Wood; Assists: Steven Santini, Will Butcher

The New York Islanders beat to the Toronto Maple Leafs, 6-5, in overtime Monday at Barclays Center. >> Read more

First period:

• 1:23 NYI Ryan Strome; Assists: Brock Nelson, Johnny Boychuk
• 13:27 TOR Nikita Soshnikov; Assists: Nikita Zaitsev, Morgan Rielly
• 14:51 TOR Auston Matthews; Assist: Morgan Rielly
• 18:13 NYI Nikolay Kulemin; Assists: Casey Cizikas, Shane Prince

Second period:

The New York Islanders host the Toronto Maple Leafs at Barclays Center on Monday at 7 p.m. ET.

According to STATS:

• The Islanders beat the Maple Leafs, 5-1, in the first meeting between these teams this year back on October 30. It was the Islanders' biggest win against the Leafs since December 17, 1993 (6-2).

The New Jersey Devils beat the Toronto Maple Leafs in a shootout after rallying from three goals down in the first period on Wednesday at Prudential Center.

The Devils return home for a matchup with the Maple Leafs on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.

According to STATS...

• The Devils dropped their third in a row with Monday's 4-0 loss at the Sharks. It took until the 18th game of the season for New Jersey to be shut out, its most games into the season since 2012-13 when it took until the 37th game.
• The Maple Leafs had 30 takeaways in Tuesday night's loss to the Hurricanes. It was the most takeaways by one team in a single game since the Blackhawks had 31 against the Ducks on February 12, 2013.
• Former Maple Leaf P.A. Parenteau has 14 points (4g, 10a) in 14 career games against Toronto. Parenteau has finished with a rating of +1 or better in each of his last six skates versus the Maple Leafs, tied for the longest active streak by a Leafs opponent.

The New Jersey Devils are limping home to the Prudential Center after a 1-3-0 Western Conference road trip.

New Jersey (9-6-3) hosts the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday riding a three-game losing streak and will be without leading scorer Taylor Hall (knee surgery) and forwards Kyle Palmieri (upper body) and Michael Cammalleri (personal).

The Devils could certainly use some firepower, especially on a moribund power-play that is 0-for-29 in their last nine games. New Jersey is 26th in the NHL with 2.22 goals per game and the power play ranks 28th at 11.9 percent.

Thomas Greiss recorded 33 saves and five players scored as the New York Islanders beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-1, Sunday at Barclays Center.

Former Islanders and current Maple Leafs forward Matt Martin still wants his old team to do well in spite of him moving on elsewhere, reports Newsday's Arthur Staple. Martin, drafted by the Islanders in the fifth round in 2008, played six full seasons with the club. He signed a four-year, $10 million contract with Toronto over the summer, but that does not mean he does not care about his old teammates.

Though their matchup Saturday night is the last time the Toronto Maple Leafs and New Jersey Devils will play until the fall, maybe only one of them truly wants to win it.

While it's clear the Devils' players want to close with a victory - especially with this possibly being Patrik Elias' finale - the Maple Leafs could have a much better chance for the draft's top overall pick if they lose in New Jersey.

"Drafting for our organization is very important," said Mike Babcock, capping a dreadful first season behind Toronto's bench. "We've taken it on the chin all year so we can be set up for it. At the same time, we have to respect one another in the game and play it the right way."

Monday's game holds significant importance to the Islanders if they're hoping to stay atop the Metropolitan Division.

The Islanders (42-21-4) are ahead of the New York Rangers by one point in the Metro. A win over the struggling Maple Leafs (26-35-5) would put them back ahead by three points in the standings heading into Tuesday night's game against the Blueshirts.

Kennedy was slated to play in Tuesday's overtime loss in Dallas, but at the last minute alerted the Islanders' coaching staff of an unspecified upper-body injury. Kennedy has been dealing with injures this season and has dealt with a shoulder ailment. There has been no official word on what the specifics of the injury were that forced him to return to Long Island early last week for evaluation.

"I don't know if was the travel, the stress of that, just a couple different things," Kennedy told Newsday on Saturday. "Just an unfortunate thing, all I can really say about it."

On Thursday the Isles defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs by the score of 3-2 for their third straight win. It was also the third straight game they defeated an opponent by one goal. The Islanders are 22-4-1 in one-goal games this season.

"These are the ways you win hockey games this time of year and in the playoffs," John Tavares said after the win. "So for us it's good to see us handle these games a lot better than we did last year."

The Maple Leafs (23-28-4) have won just twice in their last 17 games dating back to January 2. They fell to the New York Rangers on Tuesday at the Air Canada Center. The loss prompted Leafs head coach Peter Horachek to tell reporters that his team's "give a [expletive] meter needs to be higher."

Despite Toronto's struggles, the Islanders aren't taking them lightly.

The Islander forward's return became imminent when the team returned Harry?Zolnierczyk to AHL Bridgeport earlier in the morning. Clutterbuck will not rejoin the fourth line, where he has played a majority of the season. Instead he will play alongside Brock Nelson and Nikolay Kulemin.

The decision to move Clutterbuck up allows for Colin McDonald to stay on the fourth line with Casey Cizikas and Matt Martin.

For the game story click here and for the sidebar story click here.

Below are some quick thought's on Tuesday's loss to the Leafs:

• This was definitely Jaroslav Halak's worst game in blue and orange. He has put up stellar performances in his last several starts, but the Leafs found ways to beat him and eventually drove him from the net. Halak surrendered five goals on 23 shots in forty minutes of work. All five goals seemed to beat him on his blocker side.

• The second period... enough said right? It was the Islanders worst so far and was the reason they lost. The Islanders gave up four unanswered goals in the second period and looked flat footed. In the first period it seemed as though the Isles took their foot off the gas after Nick Leddy scored at 2:48. The Islanders didn't sugar coat their play in the second. They know they need to be better and that there are no excuses for what happened. Whatever adjustments need to be made, need to be made so that this doesn't happen again.

• I liked Nikolay Kulemin playing on the top line. Jack Capuano was mixing up lines and that combination was one of them. Kulemin is very underrated, as Rich Dias pointed out, just like Frans Nielsen. At the very least it may be worth keeping Kulemin there to start the game against Boston.

• Cal clutterbuck paired with Brock Nelson and Ryan Strome did not click for me. Clutterbuck did his thing by drawing the Leafs into take several penalties, but there didn't seem to be much chemistry between the three. Capuano hinted at changes to the lineup being made, so maybe Clutterbuck is moved again. We will see.

• The Power play looked better on Tuesday. They did capitalize on one opportunity and the puck movement was good by them. Unfortunately they went 1-for-6 with the man-advantage.

• The penalty kill was also better. They went 4-for-4 and kept the Leafs power play unit at bay.

• Thomas Hickey left the game after getting his face cut by a skate. Luckily he is Ok, confirming he was via twitter on Wednesday morning.

at

Nassau Coliseum -- Uniondale, NY

TV: MSG Plus 2 Radio: WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9 FM

The New Jersey Devils fell in a shootout once again, this time at the hands of the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. ?The win pushes the Devils to 4-7-5 on the season.

[sny-box]

New Jersey Devils at Toronto Maple Leafs, 7:30pm

Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Ontario

On May 9?

1994- Martin Brodeur stops all 22 shots he faces, pitching his first-career playoff shutout in New Jersey's 2-0 win over the Boston Bruins in game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals at Brendan Byrne Arena.

On May 8?

1988- Officials boycott game 4 of the Wales Conference finals between the Devils and Boston Bruins, after the NHL did not suspend New Jersey coach Jim Schoenfeld for his postgame outburst at referee Don Koharski.

On May 7?

1994- Stephane Richer's goal at 14:19 of the first overtime lifts New Jersey to a 5-4 win over the Boston Bruins in game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals at Boston Garden.

On May 6?

1972- Denis and Mireille Brodeur welcomed a baby boy, Martin, into the world. That boy would grow into the Devils' -- and arguably the NHL's -- greatest goalie of all time.

This is the first in a series of posts on the Devils' pending free agents (restricted and unrestricted). We'll cover their strengths and weaknesses and end up with a final verdict on whether we think the Devils should re-sign the player. There will also be a poll at the end of each post so you guys can weigh in with your thoughts.

On May 1...

2000- Patrik Elias records a goal and two assists, and Scott Gomez and Claude Lemieux each post two-point games, leading the Devils to a 5-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs in game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals at Continental Airlines Arena.

On April 29...

1994- Claude Lemieux's power-play goal at 13:49 of the second period proves to be the game-winner in New Jersey's 2-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres in game 7 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series.

On April 28...

2001- After losing game one, the Devils blow a 5-1 third-period lead in game 2 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series with the Toronto Maple Leafs. But Randy McKay's goal at 5:30 of the first overtime lifts New Jersey to a 6-5 win over the Leafs, evening their best-of-seven series at 1.

Down six points with just six games left, it's time for the Devils to start helping themselves.

We can go over the scenarios every day, but without New Jersey wins it doesn't matter. The Devils are 0-6-4 in their last 10 yet are still mathematically alive.

New Jersey clearly can't get into the tournament without winning some games. It also hasn't gotten much help lately.

Still, as it is mathematically possible for the Devils to get in, we keep it up.

New Jersey's 5-4 loss to Boston Wednesday leaves it in dire straits. The Devils trail the three-way tie for sixth by four points with only eight games left.

The only solace New Jersey can take is it will have destiny in its own hands. The Devils will meet Ottawa Friday in a crucial affair at Prudential Center. Three of New Jersey's final eight will be against the Rangers and Sens.

New Jersey trails the eighth-placed Rangers by just two points with 17 days left. The Devils are four points behind the two-way tie for sixth between Ottawa and the Islanders.

The Isles and Senators seem to be going in opposite directions. Ottawa's lost five straight-- including a 3-2 loss in Tampa Bay on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the Islanders are 7-2-1 in their last 10 and knocked off Philadelphia 4-1 on Tuesday in Uniondale, N.Y.

The Leafs' 4-3 regulation win over the Rangers at Air Canada Centre kept New Jersey within two points of both seventh and eighth in the East with only 18 regular-season days remaining.

With New Jersey idle again tonight, the team and fans can root for the Flyers and Lightning. Philadelphia, still clinging to faint-playoff life, will be on Long Island for a date with the Isles. Tampa Bay, meanwhile, will try to deal the reeling Senators their fifth-straight loss.

On a night when the Jets, Rangers, Islanders and Capitals all won, New Jersey could only muster one goal in a 2-1 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday at Prudential Center.

"There's some frustration in not winning," Devils coach Pete DeBoer said. "We have to find a way to win games ... that's where the frustration lies."

Who:?Toronto Maple Leafs at New Jersey Devils

When:?7:00 p.m. ET; Pregame show at 6:30 p.m. ET

With 15 games left, the Devils are only two points ahead of the Eastern Conference's No. 9 team.

But New Jersey can boost that advantage with some games it should win. The Devils will play back-to-back games in the Sunshine State, starting tonight with an affair with the lowly Lightning.

The Islanders' huge 3-2 win in Washington, coupled with Winnipeg's 4-1 win in Raleigh boosted the Isles within two points of the arch-rival Rangers.

The Rangers meanwhile won a rather large game of their own, downing Philadelphia 5-2. The Rangers sit just two points back of the Devils with one game in hand.

Maybe that's what makes the Devils' 4-2 loss -- their fifth consecutive defeat-- on Monday night at Air Canada

Images like this are becoming the norm for the New Jersey Devils during their five-game losing streak.

Who:? New Jersey Devils at Toronto Maple Leafs

When: 7:00 p.m. ET; Pregame show at 6:30 p.m. ET

Scoring Summary:

First Period- Sykora (14) and Clarkson (23) and Connolly (9)

Scoring Summary:First Period- Kovalchuk (7) and Clarkson (8)

Second Period- ?Kessel (17)