ELMONT, N.Y. — Sheldon Keefe warned of an adjustment.
Following a three-game, point-stacking run against bona fide bottom-feeders in Anaheim and San Jose, the head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs was keenly aware his group would be tested much more stiffly on Long Island, where the captain’s former team is very much fighting for a playoff berth.
“Aggressive team offensively,” Keefe cautioned at Thursday’s morning skate. “They’re going to come to the net hard. Puck is going to go to the net.”
And while the Maple Leafs proved up to the task 5-on-5, rallying from a first-minute 1-0 deficit to build a 3-1 lead of their own, it was their odd-man situational play that failed them in a 4-3 overtime loss that snuffs Toronto’s win streak at four games.
“Special teams were rotten tonight — power play, penalty kill, overtime. That costs you games,” Keefe said, pointedly. “Power play had one chance and did nothing with it. It’s as bad as we’ve looked in any power play. And then penalty kill, it’s in our net before you can even blink to start the game.”
He’s not wrong.
‘Special teams were rotten’: Maple Leafs’ Keefe doesn’t hold back criticism after loss
The game’s first shot on net bounced off the inside of a well-screened Martin Jones‘s blocker and landed on the tape of New York’s Kyle Palmieri, who deposited the game’s second shot into the net at the 40-second mark.
“It was a difficult night, for sure,” Jones said. “Just dealing with traffic, bodies and sticks in front.”
Unrattled, the Leafs settled into the game’s flow and scored three unanswered even-strength markers, each one prettier than the next: a Bobby McMann one-timer teed up by a nifty no-look Noah Gregor pass, plus two more in-tight strikes by Rocket leader Auston Matthews, who is now up to 33 goals on the campaign.
Five-on-five, the Leafs outscored the Islanders 3-1, outshot them 25-18, and led in high-danger chances 12-6.
No wonder Keefe was peeved when, still leading with seven minutes to go in regulation, defenceman Timothy Liljegren committed a “careless high stick” on Brock Nelson that gave the home side its third power-play opportunity of the contest.
Bo Horvat promptly tied the game, converting a second power-play goal on a smart pass from Noah Dobson after the Leafs failed to clear the zone.
Matthews puts Maple Leafs up two with pair of early second period goals vs. Islanders
“Those are the kind of mistakes that cost you games and cost you points,” Keefe said.
Credit Dobson (four assists) and game-winning goal-scorer Mathew Barzal (four points) for their game-breaking efforts.
Blame the Leafs for not executing nearly well enough on special teams as they did 5-on-5.
Turning points that gifted energy to the more desperate Islanders, who juggled all four of their lines ahead of Toronto’s arrival after dropping four of their past five games.
“A couple times where we gave them that life, and they fed off it, and they fed off the crowd a little bit too,” McMann observed. “They had some big goals and found that momentum and we just weren’t able to crush it near the end there.”
In terms of league-wide ranking, both the Maple Leafs’ power play (sixth at 26.7 per cent) and their PK (24th at 76.8 per cent) have taken a step back from where they rated in 2022-23.
Maple Leafs lose their win streak but turn in quality performance vs. Islanders
“Not doing a good enough job on the kill,” Mitch Marner lamented. “S—– bounces, obviously. We gotta get our clears when we got ’em. A couple times we’d just miss the lane by half an inch, half a millimetre, and it ends up in the back of our net.”
Small margins, big differences.
Fox’s Fast Five
• The relentless booing of John Tavares on Long Island continues, to the shock of no one. Only time he received cheers Thursday? When a linesman tossed him from the faceoff dot.
“J.T.’s my buddy. He’s a great captain. But these fans aren’t backing off,” ex-Leaf Matt Martin told Real Kyper & Bourne. “They’re passionate. They care. They don’t like the way it ended. There’s not telling them otherwise.
“We love our fans the way they are. Myself personally, I don’t hold anything against J.T. personally for going home to play. That’s his decision. But, yeah, our fans aren’t going to let up — and that’s the beauty of it.”
• All-star voting ended Thursday at midnight. The fans’ choices to play in the Toronto showcase will be revealed Saturday. Keefe said he would be surprised if more Leafs don’t join Auston Matthews at the event.
William Nylander, who leads all candidates at last check, is a slam dunk, but a deserving dark horse is Morgan Rielly — who has never been invited.
“He should’ve been there already,” Tavares says, “so I think it’s long overdue. And no better way than for his first one to be in Toronto, especially what he’s given to this city and this organization and the level that he’s playing at and just how much we rely on him. One of the most unselfish players, teammates, that I’ve had in my time in the league and the game, so would be great to see him get that recognition.”
• Conor Timmins hasn’t played a hockey game since Dec. 21. William Lagesson hasn’t played since Dec. 27. As Toronto finds its stride defensively with three consistent pairs, those players’ healthy scratches will continue.
“For the time being, while we’re healthy, we don’t see a reason to change,” Keefe says.
• The Islanders have developed a fine depth forward in 22-year-old Simon Holmström.
The 2019 first-rounder is already up to 11 goals in his first full NHL season despite skating just a shade over 13 minutes per night and starting 64 per cent of his shifts in the D-zone.
Moreover, Holmstrom leads all NHLers with five shorthanded goals and six shorthanded points.
• His Sudbury special flapping out the back and both earholes of his helmet, Tyler Bertuzzi simply continues to be a dog on the forecheck. A fine complement for Tavares and Nylander.
“Yeah, he’s just been all over it. I just find the puck kinda stays glued to him on the forecheck. When he has it roaming around in the O-zone, he’s really good at protecting it. And if somebody thinks they stole it, he just gets it back. And he’s just really good at shielding and coming out of it with the puck in his hands,” Matthews says.
“He’s been playing really good for us over the last couple weeks, and he just continues to get better.”
NYON, Switzerland (AP) — Serbia and Albania are set to co-host the men’s Under-21 European Championship in 2027 in a soccer project that aims to overcome political tensions.
UEFA said Thursday only the Serbia-Albania bid met a deadline this week to file detailed tournament plans. Belgium and Turkey had declared interest earlier in the bidding process scheduled to be decided at a Dec. 16 meeting of the UEFA executive committee.
The Serbian and Albanian soccer federations teamed up in May to plan organization of the 16-team tournament played every two years that needs eight stadiums to host 31 games.
Albania soccer federation leader Armand Duka, who is a UEFA vice president, told The Associated Press in May that “it’s a 100% football project” with “a very good political message that we can get across.”
Weeks later at the men’s European Championship held in Germany, historic tensions between the Balkan countries — which in soccer included a notorious drone incident at a Serbia-Albania game in 2014 — played out at separate games involving their senior teams.
An Albania player was banned for games by UEFA for using a megaphone to join fans in nationalist chants, including targeting Serbia, after a Euro 2024 game against Croatia. Fans of Albania and Croatia earlier joined in anti-Serb chants, leading UEFA to impose fines for discrimination.
UEFA also fined both the Albanian and Serbian federations in separate incidents at Euro 2024 for fans displaying politically motivated banners about neighboring Kosovo.
After historic tensions were heightened by the 1990s Balkans conflicts, in 2008 majority ethnic Albanians in Kosovo declared independence for the former Serbian province. Serbia refuses to recognize that independence and considers Kosovo the cradle of its statehood.
An Albanian fans group daubed red paint on the federation offices in May when the cooperation with Serbian soccer for the Under-21 Euros was announced.
“We did have a few negative reactions from fans, mainly, and some interest groups,” Duka said then, “but not from the Albania government.”
UEFA has shown broad support for Serbia and Albania under its president, Aleksander Ceferin, who is from Slovenia.
The next annual congress of UEFA’s 55 national federations is in the Serbian capital Belgrade on April 3, and an executive committee meeting in September 2025 will be held in Tirana, Albania.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia’s mayor has revealed the terms of the deal negotiated with the city’s pro basketball team for a new $1.3 billion arena downtown.
The agreement reached earlier this month calls for the Philadelphia 76ers to finance the entire project, with no city funding involved. There is, however, a provision that would let the NBA team make annual payments in lieu of taxes averaging $6 million per year. The agreement also calls for a $50 million investment in businesses, neighboring communities and the city’s schools to blunt the project’s impact, Mayor Cherelle Parker said during a news conference Wednesday night.
“I truly am proud having made this decision and negotiated an agreement that will definitely ensure that our Sixers are staying home right here in Philadelphia, where they should be,” Parker said.
City officials also released drafts of the nine bills and two resolutions needed to authorize the project, including measures that allow the city to acquire the arena property and change zoning rules. Parker said her administration would hold a series of town halls in the coming months where residents could discuss concerns about the proposal.
Team owners say their planned “76 Place” project would improve a struggling retail corridor near City Hall and capitalize on the city’s public transit. They also have vowed not to renew the lease on their current space, a circa 1996 arena in the city’s South Philadelphia sports complex, when their lease runs out in 2031.
The proposal has drawn significant opposition from activists in the city’s Chinatown area, who fear it would disrupt or displace residents and businesses. They say the city has ignored concerns that the project will increase vehicle traffic in their pedestrian-friendly neighborhood and force vulnerable residents — older people, low-income families and new immigrants — to move out. Parker on Wednesday renewed her pledge to preserve the area, which is just over a block from the proposed arena site.
If ultimately approved by the City Council, demolition work in the area would begin in 2026 with construction starting two years later. Officials hope to open the arena in time for the 76ers’ 2031-32 season.
Karl-Anthony Towns was born in New Jersey, went to college in Kentucky and has spent the entirety of his NBA career in Minnesota.
His roots, however, are in the Dominican Republic. And to continue paying homage to his late mother’s homeland, Towns announced plans Thursday to help build a state-of-the-art basketball training facility in that country, one where youth will get top-notch coaching and access to physical therapy, classroom space, meeting space and more.
Groundbreaking in Santiago, Dominican Republic, is set for next year, with plans calling for completion in 2026.
“I’ve been very fortunate to live the American dream,” said Towns, the four-time All-Star and two-time All-NBA selection who is about to enter his 10th pro season, all with the Timberwolves. “But for me, having a different set of eyes, seeing it through my mother’s eyes and what she had to do to really even feel like an American, I wanted to bring the resources that we have here to there and give kids the opportunity to have the best equipment and the best chances possible to not only make money for their family but also pursue their dreams.”
Jacqueline Cruz-Towns died in April 2020 of complications related to COVID-19. She was the center of her son’s world, the woman who taught him about the importance of faith and family, sacrifice and hard work. The fact that this facility — Towns is partnering with GO Ministries and World Youth Clubs to make it happen — is going to be built where she’s from is not a coincidence.
“It was really important for me to give back to my community, a country that’s given me everything, gave me my mother and gave me this love of the game of basketball,” Towns said. “It’s given me the word love, both of family and understanding how to treat people.”
Towns, also in tribute to his mother, has represented the Dominican Republic in multiple international tournaments going back to 2011 at the junior level. He most recently starred for the island nation at the 2023 World Cup in the Philippines, averaging 24.4 points in five games.
This basketball facility is part of a complex that also includes two soccer fields, four baseball fields, covered outdoor basketball and volleyball courts and an educational facility. Towns said it has taken time to find the right people to actually execute the programs on the ground — he has known and trusted some of them for years — and now the “building blocks are set,” he said.
And above all else, his mother — who took him to church often and even when the family was struggling taught him the value of trying to help others — would approve.
“It is the safe haven for some of these kids who have found themselves in different situations and have a lack of resources,” Towns said. “To be able to give these kids a chance to dream and to really think of the dream — maybe they don’t make the NBA, the WNBA, professional baseball, become a professional volleyball player or a great soccer player — but now they get to dream. For them to be able to grow their life skills, their social skills, and also to learn how to have a passion and to be determined about something and have dedication, I think this is amazing.”
