Bobby McMann scored twice, including the game-winner on the power play with 2:59 left in regulation, as the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the New York Islanders 2-1 on Thursday night in Elmont, N.Y.
McMann’s third two-goal game of the season was all the support Joseph Woll (32 saves) needed. Nicholas Robertson, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Maxi Domi each had an assist.
Scott Mayfield recorded his second goal of the season for the Islanders, with Mathew Barzal and Adam Pelech assisting. Ilya Sorokin stopped 29 shots for the Islanders, who have lost three straight (0-3-0).
Once again, special teams betrayed the Islanders, who rank last in both the power play and penalty kill. New York, which went 0-for-3 with the man advantage, last scored a power-play goal on Dec. 8, and has not scored in its last 20 chances.
Meanwhile, the Islanders allowed the Maple Leafs to convert on the second of their two power-play chances. They have now allowed power-play goals in five straight games and eight out of their last nine.
A tripping call on Pelech with 4:41 left opened the door for Toronto, and McMann was in the right position to beat Sorokin after Ekman-Larsson’s initial shot went wide. It caromed off the board and right to the 28-year-old forward.
Toronto found the back of the net first midway through the game, with McMann skating in alone on Sorokin from the goalie’s right.
Domi didn’t assist on that goal, but he had a hand in it as it came seconds after he hit Islanders defenseman Isaiah George while controlling the puck in the corner near New York’s goal. The rookie skated off the ice, and Toronto capitalized on the long change.
George did not return.
Mayfield tied it for New York with 1:45 left in the second period when Barzal found an opening in the Maple Leafs defense and threaded a cross-zone pass to the blue-liner.
Earlier in the period, the Islanders couldn’t capitalize on two Toronto penalties that came 101 seconds apart.
Toronto once again did not have Auston Matthews on the ice. The 27-year-old center remains out with an upper-body injury.
–Field Level Media
