Islanders 5, Maple Leafs 3: Got the easy one

He's here, he's there, he's every-####ing-where Matthew Schaefer. | Getty Images

With their playoff lives on the line, a new coach to impress in his debut and a lame-duck opponent coming in on a traveling back-to-back, it would’ve been inexcusable for the New York Islanders to waste their chance at two points on Thursday night vs. the Maple Leafs.

They delivered the performance they needed, getting a regulation win without too much concern, other than a brief stretch where Toronto ignored a 26-6 shot deficit to tie the score at 2-2 early in the second period.

Thankfully the Islanders answered — Matthew Schaefer, tying another record, of course — to put the Isles up 3-2 at the midway point, then they converted on two power plays to give them the breathing room they needed on the way to a 5-3 win.

It’s hard to read much from Pete DeBoer’s debut or rather his impact, when the players were all firing with energy and DeBoer was consulting his staff often throughout the night. The fourth line and the third pair were used about how you’d hope given what they bring to the table, so there’s that. Max Shabanov had a few decent plays getting a rare consecutive game for him. They outplayed a bad team, as they should given the stakes even if my dog was behind the bench.

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The result doesn’t move the Isles back into playoff position, not even briefly, but it kept pace with the Atlantic’s Red Wings and Senators — Saturday’s opponent — as they also won tonight, and pulled them back within a point of the Flyers (whom the Wings beat tonight) for third in the Metro.

The Isles got on the board early with two goals in the first five minutes, and blitzed the Leafs with a 24-3 first-period shot disparity. But Leafs rookie Artur Akhtyamov, making his first NHL start and hinting that Toronto might have something, was very athletic and energetic in keeping the game close. The Leafs got a bad-angle goal on Ilya Sorokin just 16 seconds after J-G Pageau had made it 2-0, so seeing the Isles go the rest of the period without cashing in on their myriad shots got the nerves up.

When Easton Cowan tied it on a power play two minutes into the second, those nerves ratcheted up. Even the boos of John Tavares sounded half-hearted or nervous.

Ah, but Schaefer came to the rescue and put the crowd at ease, in accordance with the prophecies, matching Brian Leetch’s rookie goal record.

The Isles worked their power play pretty well late in the second to get an insurance goal from an Emil Heineman one-timer, set up by Mathew Barzal for his lone assist, though he played a big part in that one and Brayden Schenn’s goal.

Then early in the third, the Leafs ran into more penalty trouble and gave the Isles a lengthy 5-on-3. Some good work down low was stopped by Akhtyamov, but the Leafs clearance took a fortunate bounce and caromed right back toward the yawning net, where Calum Ritchie was there to swat in his 13th.

The Leafs got one back with just under six minutes to go, another bad-angle one on Sorokin, though this one deflected in off his and Barzal’s stick from Morgan Rielly’s pass across the crease.

But that was it. The next scare was not related to the score and had far more gravity: Schaefer took a shot up high near the collarbone and went immediately off the ice and to the dressing room. But he was back on the ice in the final minute, leading to a standing ovation from a crowd that was ready to erupt when they saw him put the empty net in his sights.

His shot was blocked, however, there was a neutral ice whistle that brought Akhtyamov back into the net for the final 20 seconds, and that was it for the night’s theater.

Up Next

Three games left and a good chance the Isles need to win all of them to have a chance. But they are 1-0 under their new coach, Schaefer is okay, and a huge matchup looms with the Senators on Saturday.