Maple Leafs happy to play waiting game in controlled win over Islanders

The Toronto Maple Leafs got a head start on their New Year’s resolution.

Or, at least, the resolution of their head coach, Craig Berube — a bundle of resolve disguised as a man.

“It’s important for us not to get impatient,” Berube had warned his team, via reporters, prior to Tuesday’s matinee against the safe and stingy New York Islanders.

“We know what they are. They’ve been a certain way for quite some time,” Berube explained of this week’s home-and-home opponent. “They’re a patient team. They don’t give you a ton.

“Take what they give you. That’s it.”

Berube’s New Year’s Eve prediction was spot on.

Toronto’s calm and controlled 3-1 victory over Patrick Roy’s bunch was a mostly low-event finale to 2024.

Less Animal House, more my parents’ house.

Joseph “Please Stay Healthy” Woll was solid when called up, turning away 25 of 26 shots, and the Leafs met the bench directive of clamping down defensively.

And while the marquee names on both sides remained relatively quiet, all it took was two brilliant offensive flashes for the home side to (a) seize an early one-goal lead and (b) restore it for the win.

With Auston Matthews on injured reserve and Pontus Holmberg sidelined due to illness, fourth-line centre David Kämpf got promoted to the second line and promptly snapped in the opening strike after a brilliant behind-the-net setup from William Nylander, pinned along the wall.

“Huge opportunity for me,” a smiling Kämpf told Sportsnet’s Shawn McKenzie at intermission. “We have the puck a little bit more than I’m used to, so it’s nice.”

After a successfully challenged non-goal was celebrated and bemoaned by each team (a fitting way to honour 2024), Jean-Gabriel Pageau finished off a beautiful passing sequence from Leafs killer Noah Dobson and Mathew Barzal to tie the game 1-1.

But Toronto fourth-liner Steven Lorentz struck back a scant 16 seconds later, capping a silky one-handed dangle around Scott Mayfield by roofing a puck clean over Ilya Sorokin’s shoulder.

Lorentz’s first in 24 games was a thing of beauty, and the Leafs locked it down for the next 28 minutes, ensuring it would stand as the winner.

“Every once in a while, you get one of those,” Lorentz said, smiling. “I kinda blacked out in the celebration. You could obviously tell I was a little bit excited.

“I was feeling it a bit there.”

Good on the Leafs for not letting Lorentz’s jubilation go to their feet. Instead of cheating for more, they patiently plodded out the clock.

So much so, that it was Roy who fell victim to impatience.

The visiting coach made the, uh, bold decision to pull Sorokin for the extra attacker despite the draw being in the Islanders’ own zone. And despite being on the penalty kill.

“I think it’s the first time I’ve ever seen that,” Berube told reporters.

Roy’s explanation: “If they win the draw, we don’t touch the puck, game over.”

By the time you could count down from 10, ex-New Yorker John Tavares had dropped the empty-netter like the Times Square ball.

Game over.

Year over.

(P.S. It’s worth noting that Lorentz — who took a one-year bargain contract and is easily the most consistent and impressive cog on his favourite boyhood team’s fourth line — will be eligible to re-sign with Toronto as soon as the clock strikes midnight.)

Fox’s Fast Five

• In the 17 games leading up to Nov. 30, the night he suffered a suspected head injury against the Golden Knights, Matthew Knies scored eight goals.

In the 16 games since that setback, the sophomore has two goals. He’s a dash-5.

On Monday, Berube dived into a video session with the 227-pound left wing. The coach is encouraging him to be more reckless. Fiercer on the forecheck. Aggressive in his puck battles and fearless with his crease presence.

“That’s the way he played before. Big-bodied guy. Can skate extremely well. Heavy. He’s got to get reckless a little bit more in his game. Get more involved. That’s really what it boils down to with him,” Berube says. “He was so good at that before he got the injury. Just hasn’t gotten to that level again.

“We need to get him back.”

Well, after admitting his dip in play, Knies submitted his best game in weeks Tuesday.

He had an apparent third-effort goal wiped off the board due to goalie interference and ripped a team-high five shots on net in 20-plus minutes of work.

• No Maple Leafs defenceman scored in December.

• As a two-time world junior gold medallist, Tavares understands the national pressure his former billet, Easton Cowan, is feeling tonight in Ottawa.

“Expectations in Canada are always extremely high,” Tavares says. “I know Easton is very driven to wanting a much better finish to the tournament than they did last year.”

Cowan was part of the 2024 junior squad that fell short of medalling. With offence hard to come by and a historic shootout loss to Latvia working against them, the 2025 Canadians risk another disappointment.

The New Year’s Eve clash against the U.S. is a biggie, and Tavares will be tuned in.

“My two boys always ask about him: ‘When’s he coming over again?’” Tavares smiles.

“I know he’s talked a lot about having unfinished business in London and how things ended with the Memorial Cup last year. I think it’s a great sign he just wants to continue to push forward, continue to get better, and obviously use opportunities like the world juniors and trying to get back to a Memorial Cup is a big driver for him.”

• Matthews (upper body) practised with the team Monday (a positive sign) but missed his fifth straight contest.

He has now been unavailable for 42 per cent of Toronto’s games and remains questionable for Thursday.

• The Maple Leafs’ lone back-to-back in January is set for this weekend as they host Boston on Saturday and Philadelphia on Sunday.

Does the team stick with Matt Murray (.879), who is admittedly not up to NHL speed?

Or do they give prospect Dennis Hildeby another crack?

We’d go with the hot hand. Hildeby was named AHL Player of the Week after stopping 66 of 69 shots in his two starts for the Marlies, posting a 1.50 goals-against average and a .957 save percentage. He shut out the Belleville Senators on Boxing Day.

Reward him.

The Murr Dawg still needs grooming.