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Leafs snap skid with win over Islanders

Dec 9, 2008 - 5:49 AM TORONTO (Ticker) -- Jason Blake scored to snap a tie late in the second period and goaltender Vesa Toskala made 26 saves to lead the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 4-2 victory over the New York Islanders on Monday.

Blake added a pair of assists for Toronto, which snapped a three-game losing streak.

Mike Sillinger tied the game at 2-2 just under four minutes left in the second period with a power-play goal, his first tally of the season.

"It obviously feels good to put the puck in the net," Sillinger said. "It's always better to contribute to a win but it's always nice to get on the score sheet."

Blake answered just over two minutes later to give Toronto a 3-2 edge.

Jeremy Williams, who assisted on Blake's go-ahead tally, added a goal in the third period for the Maple Leafs.

Williams was called up from the American Hockey League on Sunday and made an impact in his first game of the season. After accepting a cross-ice feed from Blake, Williams beat goaltender Joey MacDonald just over eight minutes into the final period to push the lead back up to two goals.

"Aside from winning a Stanley cup and winning a game scoring a goal for me is one of the best feelings ever," Williams said. "It's mainly because of one-one battles, things away from the puck, I think I've made strides on playing with the Marlies."

Making his 17th straight start, MacDonald made 33 saves for the Islanders, who have lost three straight and were playing the first of four consecutive games on the road.

"Defensively and offensively we just have to be better overall," MacDonald said.

Blake, who has six points in his last three games, and Williams combined to give Toronto the lead for good.

Williams brought the puck over the blue line and found Blake with a nice feed at the right circle. Blake skated hard to the net and flipped the puck past MacDonald on the stick side.

"It was a great pass by Jeremy Williams on his backhand, it was just a great pass I took it to the net and found an opening on the far side," Blake said.

Ian White and rookie Nikolai Kulemin also scored goals for the Maple Leafs.

"That's our game throw pucks at the net, that's how we find our legs," Toskala said. "We got our forecheck going. We didn't do that the last three games now we got back what is working for us early in the season. It was a pretty good game."

Captain Bill Guerin scored his 11th goal of the season in the first period to pull the Islanders even at 1-1.