New York Islanders vs. Toronto Maple Leafs Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 4/17/2022

Time: 7:30 p.m. ET

Venue: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, ON

Where to watch: SNO, MSG+

DraftKings: Maple Leafs -205, Islanders +175

BetMGM: Maple Leafs -200, Islanders +165

Caesars: Maple Leafs -200, Islanders +170

Islanders: 35-30-9

Maple Leafs: 49-20-6

It only took one of the final few games left in the regular season for Mark Giordano to make his presence felt for the Toronto Maple Leafs. The former Norris Trophy defenseman scored the overtime winner Saturday for Toronto in a 5-4 win over the Ottawa Senators to keep pace in the Atlantic Division.

Toronto will now play the second night of a back-to-back against the New York Islanders in the John Tavares Bowl, which fortunately the bad blood has surely subsided after such a time away, right? Right? Maybe not.

But the Maple Leafs are still fighting for home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs and are currently four points ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning for second place in the Atlantic. We are closing in on a collision course for the most damndest thing we’ve seen in recent memory during the playoffs: Toronto, trying to win a playoff series, against the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions.

The hockey gods all want us to suffer.

"It's big. Those are big goals," Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said. "They're the type of goals that get the team to really rally and celebrate. It's a deserving moment for [Giordano], who's just come in here and done an excellent job for us."

It’s not Auston Matthews chasing 60 goals, but the goal for Giordano was huge in reminding everyone that he is going to be a valuable piece for Toronto in a potential playoff run. Giordano, the former Seattle captain acquired at the trade deadline, also had two assists on the night.

"I think he's a huge part of our team. He's a veteran," Toronto forward Michael Bunting said. "And he came in and had that veteran presence right away. He was the captain for a very long time in Calgary and then the captain in Seattle. He carries [himself] like that. He's a great add and a great guy off the ice, and he's playing unbelievable for us right now."

The Leafs control their own destiny for having home-ice advantage in a playoff series, but there are teams down the stretch that will try to play spoiler just because of the nature of their coach. And if you think Barry Trotz is going to let his Islanders fall flat down the stretch, then clearly you’re not hydrated enough.

The Islanders played spoiler of another kind on Thursday, spoiling the return of Carey Price in a 3-0 victory over the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre. And it was on this night that Ilya Sorokin was dominant at the other end with 44 saves, and Zach Parise also scored for the Islanders.

"I was a little surprised," Parise said recalling his goal. "I corralled the puck and looked across and saw both of those guys there. I could tell 'Barzy' really wanted that puck. Our conversion rate hasn't been very high on 2-on-0s this year, so I wanted to get it to him. He was coming down the middle and I let him make the decision. I was ready for him to send it back, I just had a good feeling that he was going to send that back. I already knew Bellows had a touch on it, so I wanted to get 'Barzy' involved too."

The Islanders are going to feel refreshed going into this game despite the travel, but I think the Maple Leafs truly value wanting to get home-ice advantage. Sorokin is going to be a nuisance for this Toronto group, but it also feels like the perfect kind of game for Matthews to get back on the score sheet and get some goals. Maple Leafs win 5-3

Maple Leafs are 29-14 this season after winning four or five of their last six.

The over is 28-12 for the Maple Leafs in the second half of the season.

Islanders are 25-12 revenging a home loss against their opponent in the past three seasons.

Islanders are 17-20 this season after playing a road game and 10-14 when playing two straight road games.

Islanders:

Anders Lee -- Brock Nelson -- Anthony Beauvillier

Josh Bailey -- Jean-Gabriel Pageau -- Kyle Palmieri

Zach Parise -- Mathew Barzal -- Kieffer Bellows

Matt Martin -- Casey Cizikas -- Ross Johnston

Adam Pelech -- Ryan Pulock

Zdeno Chara -- Noah Dobson

Grant Hutton -- Andy Greene

Ilya Sorokin

Maple Leafs:

Michael Bunting -- Auston Matthews -- Mitchell Marner

Ilya Mikheyev -- John Tavares -- Alexander Kerfoot

William Nylander -- David Kampf -- Pierre Engvall

Kyle Clifford -- Colin Blackwell -- Jason Spezza

Morgan Rielly -- Ilya Lyubushkin

Mark Giordano -- Timothy Liljegren

Justin Holl -- TJ Brodie

Jack Campbell

Points: Brock Nelson -- 56

Goals: Brock Nelson -- 34

Assists: Mat Barzal -- 37

Goalie: Ilya Sorokin -- 25-15-7, 2.29 GAA, .928 SV%

Points: Auston Matthews -- 102

Goals: Auston Matthews -- 58

Assists: Mitch Marner -- 60

Goalie: Jack Campbell -- 28-9-5, 2.73 GAA, .911 SV%