The Islanders reran the script Thursday night with a good 5-on-5 effort again undermined by their flailing special teams in a 2-1 loss to the Leafs achieved thanks to a late Toronto power play goal.
The crowd thought or at least hoped the Isles had tied it in the final minute when Anders Lee banged Joseph Woll’s paddle to send the puck over the line, but the whistle had blown and the refs, in this case, reasonably judged play to be dead.
Not so reasonable was how they ignored a Max Domi reverse elbow — not reverse “hit” — to Isaiah George’s head, which knocked the 20-year-old out of the game and led directly to the Leafs’ first goal.