Peter DeBoer’s first night behind the Islanders’ bench ended in a victory, as New York defeated Toronto 5-3 at UBS Arena.
Artur Akhtyamov got the nod in goal for the Maple Leafs, and his first start in the NHL was a busy one. The rookie faced 44 shots, with five getting past him.
The Islanders came out strong and struck early. Brayden Schenn opened the scoring at 2:08 of the first period, finishing a shot from the doorstep to make it 1-0. Just over two minutes later, Jean-Gabriel Pageau doubled the lead, poking in a rebound to give New York a 2-0 advantage.
Toronto answered quickly. Steven Lorentz slipped one past Ilya Sorokin from a tough angle just 21 seconds later to cut the deficit to 2-1.
The Maple Leafs then tied the game early in the second period. Easton Cowan scored 1:57 into the frame with a power-play wrist shot from the circles to even things at 2-2.
New York regained control midway through the period. Matthew Schaefer scored at 9:29, ripping a wrist shot under Akhtyamov’s glove for his 23rd goal of the season and a 3-2 Islanders lead.
The Islanders added to their cushion late in the second. Emil Heineman fired home a power-play one-timer at 16:44 to make it 4-2, and Callum Ritchie added another power-play goal midway through the third to stretch the lead to 5-2.
Toronto got one back when Morgan Rielly scored his 11th of the season at 14:04 of the third, but that was as close as the Maple Leafs would get.
New York skated away with a much-needed 5-3 win.
Next step Toronto returns home to take on the Panthers Saturday night at Scotiabank Arena
