The Islanders absorbed an early injury hit, weathered Toronto’s third-period push and left Scotiabank Arena with a 4-1 win Saturday behind Simon Holmstrom’s two goals and another sharp night from Ilya Sorokin.
Bo Horvat, wearing the captain’s “C” for New York, scored once and set up Holmstrom’s insurance marker as the Islanders moved to 4-3-1. They have yet to put together consecutive results in either direction this season, alternating wins and losses through eight games. Sorokin stopped 28 shots, including 12 in a frantic final period when Toronto owned a 13-3 edge in shots.
“That wasn’t easy, especially against a team like that,” Horvat said. “They have a lot of elite skill and offense. To have players step up after we lost two guys early says a lot about our group. Everybody found a different way to contribute.”
New York lost forwards Calum Ritchie and Matias Maccelli during the opening period. Ritchie was done after one shift with a lower-body injury. Maccelli left at 16:36 after being tripped by Darren Raddysh and coming down awkwardly on his left knee; he could put little weight on the leg while two teammates helped him off. Coach Peter DeBoer did not have an update on either player after the game.
Still, the Islanders built their game around a clean forecheck, patient puck management and a penalty kill that kept the Maple Leafs from finding a route back. Anthony Duclair opened the scoring at 8:18 of the first, collecting Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s backhand feed from the right-side boards, shifting left around Nick Paul in the slot and beating Sergei Bobrovsky low on the glove side.
Horvat doubled the lead late in the second period. Kyle Palmieri sent the puck toward the net, Bobrovsky made the right-pad stop, and Horvat arrived in the slot to bury the rebound at 18:33.
“It started with a really good forecheck,” Horvat said. “Holmstrom got in there, I tried to hold the wall and get to the middle quickly. Palmieri put it out front and I was able to track down the rebound.”
Islanders shut down the middle after Toronto’s response
Colton Sissons gave Toronto life 3:54 into the third, getting his stick on Troy Stecher’s one-timer from the right point to make it 2-1. The Maple Leafs pressed from there, but Sorokin and the Islanders’ defenders kept most of the looks to the outside.
Toronto coach Jim Hiller said his club did not spend enough time creating traffic in front of Sorokin, particularly against a heavy New York blue line.
“You need to get to the inside and put pucks into that area,” Hiller said. “With Sorokin in net and big, strong defensemen in front of him, you have to create some chaos around the goal. We did it a couple of times. One became a goal, and Raddysh had a good deflection chance, but we did not do it nearly enough. You are not going to beat that team from the perimeter.”
Auston Matthews echoed that assessment after Toronto fell to 3-4-2, with one win in its past five outings. Matthews and Kirill Marchenko each saw six-game point streaks end. The Maple Leafs were also without John Tavares, who is considered week to week after suffering a lower-body injury in Thursday’s 5-4 overtime loss to the Buffalo Sabres.
“They worked hard and kept us outside,” Matthews said. “We passed up too many shots and made it easier on them. They played a strong game, but we spent too much time on the perimeter.”
Holmstrom gave New York breathing room at 14:08 of the third, taking Horvat’s pass in the slot and firing a glove-side shot past Bobrovsky. He finished the scoring with an empty-net goal at 17:55. Bobrovsky made 16 saves.
New York went 3-for-3 on the penalty kill, surviving two early third-period penalties before regaining control of the game. The Islanders are eighth in the NHL on the kill at 86.7 percent, having erased 26 of 30 short-handed situations.
“We expected them to come with speed and pressure,” Holmstrom said. “Getting through those two penalties early in the third was important. I thought we improved as the period went along, took away their momentum and then got the late goal.”
DeBoer called it New York’s most complete and smartest effort of the young season, particularly after the way his shortened bench handled the second period and the pressure that followed.
“After the second, I told the group that we had managed the game very well,” DeBoer said. “That was probably our most complete game and our smartest one so far.”
Assistant coach Bob Boughner has overseen a penalty kill built on detail, DeBoer said, while pointing to the instincts of regulars Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock. On this night, that structure held up long enough for Sorokin, Horvat and Holmstrom to turn a difficult road game into two points.
