Auston Matthews continued his goal-scoring tear, netting two, but rookie phenom Matthew Schaefer matched that number, and the Islanders came back to beat the Leafs 4-3 in overtime Saturday night at USB Arena.
What looked to be a defensive battle, with neither team scoring in the first period, opened up in the second. New York defencemen Adam Pelech put the Islanders ahead 1:10 into the period, sniping a shot just under the crossbar that seemingly fooled Toronto goaltender Joseph Woll.
Matthews took charge after that. First tying the game at 9:34 on an unassisted goal, then blasting home a one-timer past David Rittich for his 20th of the season at 17:19. Matthew’s second goal of the game was his 421st of his career, a new all-time Maple Leafs record (formerly held by Mats Sundin).
Toronto held its 2-1 lead all the way until the 11:10 mark of the third period. That’s when Matthew Schaefer scored his first of the game, driving past the Leafs’ defence and tucking the puck home by Woll.
Toronto went back out in front on Nicholas Robertson’s 9th goal of the season off a beautiful centring feed from Nicolas Roy to make it 3-2.
But the Leafs could not hang on. With 2:45 left in the period, Mathew Barzal found Emil Heineman alone at the face-off dot, and the winger didn’t miss, blasting a shot by Woll to tie the game 3-3.
From there, the game went into overtime, and with just 49 seconds remaining in the extra session, Barzal connected with Schaefer on a spin-o-rama pass. Schaefer beat Woll point-blank for the game winner.
Next up, Toronto hosts the Panthers Tuesday night at Scotiabank Arena.
