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GAME 1:
With the Maple Leafs missing some players due to injuries, and others just coming off of them, the New York Islanders were eager to play the team of veterans in New York's first postseason appearance since 1994. Kenny Jonsson started the scoring in Toronto with a power-play goal just 5:57 into the series. He got the puck past star netminder Curtis Joseph, who was playing in only his second game since receiving a broken hand six weeks earlier. The score would remain 1-0 for the Islanders through the first two periods, until Darcy Tucker tied it early in the third. Then an unlikely goal by tough guy Tie Domi 8:39 in the third put the Leafs up 2-1. The Islanders were forced to pull their goalie to try and get into overtime, but captain Mats Sundin put away the game at 19:20 with an empty net goal.
Joseph only had to make 13 saves, while New York goalie Chris Osgood stopped 28. Osgood came from Detroit to Long Island this year, after winning two Stanley Cups with the Red Wings.
GAME 2:
With Curtis Joseph making 31 saves in his 100th postseason start and 13th playoff shutout, the Toronto Maple Leafs were showing New York what they were up against. The Leafs effectively kept Alexei Yashin from scoring a goal, extending his playoff scoreless streak to 12 games, of which the last 11 were against Toronto.
With both goalies doing a superb job of stopping the shots, Alyn McCauley finally broke through Chris Osgood's defences just over three minutes into the third period, giving the Leafs a 1-0 lead. With Osgood again pulled for an extra man, Leaf defenceman Tomas Kaberle finished off the game with an empty-netter with 7 seconds to go.
GAME 3:
After Alexander Mogilny's beautiful passing-play goal 7:32 into the game to put the Leafs up 1-0, the Islanders decided it was time to show Toronto what they were made of. In front of a rowdy home crowd, New York tallied up a score of 6-1, including 4 power-play goals. The first came at 14:34 of the first period, during a double minor penalty against Maple Leaf Wade Belak. Mark Parrish scored for New York, which would hold the teams at 1-1 until 6:01 of the second period, when Brad Isbister scored the Islanders' second power-play goal of the game. Captain Mike Peca added a goal at 14:31 to make the score 3-1 for the Islanders, and then Mark Parrish struck again for his second power-play goal of the game at 19:19.
As the third period wound up and Toronto found themselves with another penalty, New York wasted no time extending their lead with their fourth power-play goal off of Shawn Bates at 7:21. Then Dave Scatchard added the sixth and final goal of the night just 14 seconds later, causing Leaf coach Pat Quinn to send backup Corey Schwab into the net. Osgood made 34 saves to give his bring his team within a game of tying their series at 2-1.
GAME 4:
With captain Mats Sundin out with a broken wrist that he received in game two, the Maple Leafs were unable to hold back Alexei Yashin any longer. The former Ottawa Senator scored the first goal of the game for New York, his first postseason goal since the 1998 Eastern Conference semifinals. Alexander Mogilny responded in the final seconds of the first period to tie it up again, and Tomas Kaberle scored in the final seconds of the next period to take a 2-1 lead.
But Kip Miller tied it once again at 13:16 of the third, followed 1:30 later by a goal from Islander Roman Hamrlik to give the Isles a 3-2 lead. Toronto's Shayne Corson got the game set for overtime at 16:34 of the third, tying it up nicely. But a questionable call at 17:30 by the referees gave a penalty shot to Shawn Bates, who made good on the chance to beat Curtis Joseph for a 4-3 win.
GAME 5:
The news that Mats Sundin would be out on an injury for the rest of the playoffs had little effect on the Toronto Maple Leafs, other than to get them geared up. Former Islander Garry Valk got the scoring going for Toronto at 6:29 of the first period, followed shortly after with another from Jonas Hoglund to put the Leafs up 2-0. Then Islanders defenceman Kenny Jonsson was slammed into the boards by Gary Roberts, causing a concussion that took Jonsson out of the series and drawing a five minute charging penalty for Roberts. Kip Miller would score the power-play goal at 19:48 of the first, bringing the Isles to 2-1.
Then former Islander Bryan McCabe had a pair of second period goals, the first a rocketing one-timer at 7:05 on a power-play. His next came at 14:30, when he slapped a cannon shot past Chris Osgood for a 4-1 lead, sending the goalie to the bench. Garth Snow was put in net for New York, and Trent Hunter scored at 16:39 to bring the Isles within two goals again. But Darcy Tucker took back the goal with his own 38 seconds later for a 5-2 lead. With a goal for Toronto by Jonas Hoglund and one for New York from Adrian Aucoin mid-way through the third period, the final score was brought to 6-3. New York captain Michael Peca was upended by Darcy Tucker late in the game, sending him to the locker room with a sprained knee that would keep him out for the series.
GAME 6:
Back in New York, the Islanders had the crowd on their side as Mariusz Czerkawski put an early goal in the net for them. Alexei Yashin followed suit at 13:30 to make the score 2-0. Toronto would come back later in the period with a pair of goals 2:19 apart, first from Wade Belak and then from Jonas Hoglund. Adrian Aucoin got a power-play goal 1:35 into the second period for a 3-2 lead. At 3:11 of the third, Kip Miller got a shot past "Cujo", with Czerkawski following him 38 seconds later for a score of 5-2. Gary Roberts' power-play goal at 6:41 of the third was not enough to finish off the Islanders, and so the two teams would return once more to Toronto for the deciding game of the series.
GAME 7:
With the two teams winning each game on home ice, Toronto advanced past the New York Islanders in a very physically demanding first round series. Curtis Joseph stopped 31 shots and allowed only 2 goals for a 4-2 victory over the Islanders. With Shayne Corson suspended for one game after kicking incident in game six, Alexander Mogilny scored his second and third goals of the series, one of them an empty-netter, and Gary Roberts got his second. The Leafs took the series 4-3, and move on to play in the "Battle of Ontario" against their rivals the Ottawa Senators.
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