Goal God's $50 Million Gift Makes Islanders Win Over Leafs!
TORONTO (AP) — Calum Ritchie had a goal and an assist on a pair of first-period power plays as the New York Islanders beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-1 on Tuesday night. Brayden Schenn scored his first goal since being acquired from St. Louis ahead of the trade deadline, and Emil Heineman also scored for the Islanders, who have won nine of 12.
Ilya Sorokin made 24 saves for New York, and Mathew Barzal had three assists. Steven Lorentz scored for Toronto. Joseph Woll stopped 31 shots.
The Leafs fell to 2-1-1 since losing captain Auston Matthews for the season to a knee injury — a run on the heels of an ugly 0-6-2 slide that all but cratered their playoff hopes. New York's Matthew Schaefer picked up an assist to move within one point of becoming the fourth rookie defenseman in franchise history to reach 50 in a season. The 18-year-old is looking to join Stefan Persson (56 in 1977-78), Denis Potvin (54 in 1973-74) and Vladimir Malakhov (52 in 1992-93).
Schenn scored on the game's first power play at 4:15 of the first. Ritchie doubled New York's lead at 9:43, also with the man advantage. Toronto entered Tuesday with the NHL’s third-best penalty kill at 83.
5%. New York’s power play was 29th at 15. 9%.