When the Eastern Conference opening round series between the Maple Leafs and Islanders began, it was, like most Stanley Cup series, widely analyzed through the most vital individual matchups.

Curtis Joseph vs. Chris Osgood. Mats Sundin vs. Mike Peca. Shayne Corson vs. Alexei Yashin. Bryan McCabe vs. Kenny Jonsson.

As the series limps into Game 7 tonight at the Air Canada Centre, only the Joseph-Osgood matchup remains intact, and that has been tarnished by the stunning inconsistency of both goaltenders in the first six games.

Otherwise, the matchups have all evaporated.

Sundin? A broken left wrist.

Peca? Torn knee ligaments.

Corson? A one-game suspension for the pernicious act of kicking.

Jonsson? A severe concussion, gone for the season.

Others have fallen along the way as well, including Leaf defenseman Cory Cross (abdominal muscle) and winger Mikael Renberg (fractured pelvis), and Islander winger Brad Isbister (sprained wrist).

From where it started, this series has been whittled down to it's base elements, the destructive result of one of the least attractive, most poisonous postseason matchups in recent times.

The hockey has been low-brow at best, hack-and-slash with sequences of dump-and-chase tossed in for a little variety. The result of all these injuries and all this bad blood is a Game 7 matchup featuring athletes who began the series as peripheral influences and support players.

So where does this leave us?

Dazed and confused, for starters, with a sense both of these clubs may have a surprise or two for the enemy tonight.

Late Monday, the suspension of Corson for viciously kicking at Islanders defenseman Eric Cairns after getting the tar kicked out of him in a scrap added a new wrinkle. As well, there was widespread speculation that Renberg might try to skate after missing the last four games of the series and out of Long Island wild rumors that Jonsson might try a miracle return of sorts.

Losing Corson, of course, robbed the Leafs of a tactical advantage that had helped them win all three of their starts at Air Canada Centre while losing all three in Long Island.

Corson shadowed Yashin brilliantly last spring when Yashin was skating for Ottawa and, when aligned against the Russian in this series, has done so again.

The grinding forward's suspension came past the supper hour Monday night, so there was no indication during the day how the Leafs might approach the Yashin matchup for Game 7. That said, head coach Pat Quinn has no comparable forward with the same size, strength and experience to do the job, and the door is likely to be wide-open for Yashin to showcase himself as a big game player if he can seize the moment.

With Sundin gone since Game 4, the Islanders have not had to worry about covering the splendid Swede, which lessened the impact of Peca's loss to some degree. Head coach Peter Laviolette's main inclination was to goon it up in Game 6 by lining up enforcer Jim Cummins as often as possible against Gary Roberts, who had sidelined Jonsson the game before with a thunderous hit from behind.

That stalking strategy worked with some effectiveness, but it's hard to believe Laviolette will try to engineer that confrontation on the road without the last change and with a player of such limited ability.

With the matchup game all but vanished on both sides, then, it's going to come down to discipline, special teams and goaltending, three areas that would appear to favor the Islanders.

The officiating changed in this series after Islanders GM Mike Milbury very publically called for more penalties following Game 2, and while the Leafs have had more than their fair share of power plays, they've taken dumber penalties at more pivotal moments.

Quinn's club is the NHL's most penalized playoff squad, a distinction that will surely lead to extinction if the Leafs continue to play that way in Game 7. The Islanders power play has shredded Toronto's lame penalty-killing brigade for 10 scores, and now Corson's loss robs the home side of one of its better penalty killers and a courageous shot blocker.

Alyn McCauley has been one of Toronto's top penalty killers all season, but with Sundin out and Robert Reichel severely limited by a knee injury, McCauley is having to carry other responsibilities. Gary Valk is probably Toronto's best remaining shorthanded ace, while Paul Healey has tried to fill in, but lacks the quickness to fill that role in the NHL.

On the other hand, the Leafs' power play, which started out this series in dreadful fashion, has steadily gained momentum and has been much better since Peca was knocked out of the competition. Until then, the Islanders forward duos of Peca and Shawn Bates followed by Claude Lapointe and Jason Blake had terrorized the Leafs power play, in particular destroying the confidence and playmaking abilities of pointmen Tomas Kaberle and McCabe.

Bates has been arguably the best player on either side, but with Peca gone and Blake banged up, the Leafs may be able to generate some timely offense with the man advantage. Indeed, Darcy Tucker could have changed the tone of Game 6 if he'd drained a golden chance on the power play 90 seconds in, but Osgood delivered a huge stop.

Which brings us to the masked men.

Joseph has been wildly inconsistent, having allowed 15 goals with an .844 save percentage in the games played on Long Island, but having been much better at home with a .938 save percentage and just four goals against.

His left hand, broken in the first game after the Olympics, has barely healed, and he isn't able to close his heavily padded catching mitt while making saves. That has led to numerous rebounds and problems with loose pucks in the crease, and Joseph's ability to move the puck, already one of his major liabilities before the broken hand, is now non-existent.

Often regarded as more proficient in the playoffs than in the regular season, Joseph lost some of that luster when he gave up a long shot goal to Roman Hamrlik late in Game 4. Peca noted earlier in the series that the Leaf goalie seemed to be leaning more to his glove side to compensate for his injury.

That said, Joseph stoned the Islanders in Game 2, making a breathtaking save on Mark Parrish in the last minute of play, and even in losing a 5-3 verdict in Game 6 he stopped Yashin twice on clear cut breakaways.

Osgood's good and bad moments have been as extreme, but he hasn't exactly conjured up memories of Billy Smith either for Islanders fans. He might have been injured in a late-game melee after Game 4, and at times has lacked focus and lost positioning.

Of the two, Joseph is the bigger wild card, capable of winning the game on his own but hampered by a hand injury. Moreover, he goes into tonight's game knowing this may be in last game in Toronto, with unrestricted free agency possibly set to take him elsewhere next season after the Leafs declined to sign him during this season.

The utter contempt these two clubs have developed for one another in just six games with no real history between them beforehand has been striking. The team that channels that emotion most productively tonight will likely profit.

The Ottawa Senators, meanwhile, sit waiting for the victor, and neither the Leafs or Isles seem likely to have much left to throw at the well-rested Sens after chopping each other to bits.

Two teams who barely knew each other two weeks ago now will have trouble shaking hands when it's all over.

Damien Cox is a columnist for the Toronto Star.