The New York Islanders secured a sorely needed two points with a 5-3 win over the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs in their first game with Peter DeBoer as head coach.
Matthew Schaefer put the Islanders (43-31-5, 91 points) back in the lead after Toronto came back from 2-0 to tie it in the second period, tying the NHL record for most goals by a rookie defenseman in the process. Calum Ritchie had a multi-point game, as did Tony DeAngelo, who was back from a six-game injury-induced hiatus.
Artur Akhtyamov came under fire in his first NHL start, turning away 39 of 44 shots for the Maple Leafs (32-33-14, 78 points). Ilya Sorokin stopped just 13 of 16 at the other end.
DeBoer’s tenure got off to a spirited start. Ritchie capitalized on a Maple Leafs defensive breakdown on a delayed penalty, feeding the puck through the slot to Brayden Schenn, who batted it past a helpless Akhtyamov 2:08 in. Jean-Gabriel Pageau made it 2-0 less than three minutes later, beating a backtracking Max Domi to stuff in his own rebound.
Steven Lorentz responded 16 seconds later for the visitors, with Islanders defenseman Carson Soucy inadvertently colliding with Sorokin as Lorentz released a powerful wrist shot to make it 2-1.
After managing just 16 shots in their last outing against the Carolina Hurricanes, the Islanders recorded 24 shots in the first period alone.
Easton Cowan made no mistake when the Islanders ceded him a little too much space in the high slot on the power play, ripping it past Sorokin to make it 2-2 just 1:57 into the second period. The Leafs’ Luke Haymes, playing in his first NHL game, proceeded to hit the post seconds later.
Schaefer tied the NHL record for most goals by a rookie defenseman with his 23rd of the season, striding into the faceoff circle and firing under Akhtyamov to retake the lead for the home team later in the period.
Emil Heineman extended the Islanders’ lead back to two with a one-timer on their third power play of the game. Ritchie made it 5-2 in the third period on a two-man advantage.
Morgan Rielly nabbed a consolation goal with six minutes remaining. Haymes tallied his first career point on the play.
The win snapped the Islanders’ four-game losing streak. They have now won eight of their last 10 against the Maple Leafs.
