Report: Islanders give an old Maple Leafs rival the start in goal tonight.

The New York Islanders are have had the luxury of having two very solid goaltenders this season and for that reason it's a difficult choice for head coach Barry Trotz to make each night when he is deciding who will be starting in goal for him before any given game. That being said though his choice for Saturday's contest between his Islanders and the Toronto Maple Leafs may have been a little easier than you would believe.

On Saturday when speaking to the assembled media ahead of a huge game against the Maple Leafs, Islanders head coach Barry Trotz informed the members of the press that he would be giving goaltender Robin Lehner the start this evening in spite of the fact that he played just last night against the Ottawa Senators. Lehner was brought in to relieve goaltender Thomas Greiss who had given up 3 early goals in the game, and Lehner would go on to pitch a perfect shut out stopping all 10 shots that he would face in relief. 

In spite of playing the night before Lehner will get the start against Toronto and you have to wonder if his history of a rivalry with the Maple Leafs did not play a role in Trotz's decision. Lehner was of course a member of the Ottawa Senators for several years and although he didn't play in every game in which the Senators faced the Leafs, he has to have been intimately familiar with the Battle of Ontario.  The rivalry this evening will not be a geographic one between the Islanders and the Leafs, but rather a rivalry that was sparked by the departure of former New York Islander's captain John Tavares, a departure that was caused by his decision to join the ranks of the Maple Leafs organization as an unrestricted free agent this past summer.

Lehner is a perfect fit for tonight's match up as he is not only a highly volatile and emotional player himself, something that could very well spread to his teammates before the game, but also due to the fact that he already has an intimate understanding of what it means to hate the Toronto Maple Leafs.

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