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Islanders, Maple Leafs fight for playoff spot

Feb 22, 2007 - 4:13 PM Toronto (29-23-8) at NY Islanders (29-23-8) 7:30 pm EST

UNIONDALE, New York (Ticker) -- Coming off one of the biggest wins of the season, the New York Islanders now can take a huge step towards making the postseason.

With both squads tied for ninth place in the Eastern Conference, the Islanders host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday.

New York posted an exciting 6-5 win over streaking Pittsburgh on Monday. Mike Sillinger scored with 27 seconds remaining, Chris Simon added two tallies and Randy Robitaille had three assists to secure the victory.

Surviving four assists from superstar Sidney Crosby, the Islanders showed a little more grit, overcoming a deficit in each period to improve to 2-1-0 on a critical seven-game homestand.

New York will look to take that momentum into Thursday's game against a fellow playoff contender. The Islanders are tied with the Maple Leafs for ninth place in the Eastern Conference, one point behind Carolina and two behind Montreal.

Despite holding a 43-22 shot advantage, Toronto was blanked, 3-0, by Boston. The Maple Leafs had their four-game point streak snapped.

While Toronto has struggled at home (12-13-5), it has won five of its last six contests away from home and are 17-10-3 overall on the road.