The New York Islanders finally snagged their first road win of the season, taking down the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-1 on Saturday night, and for Toronto fans, things are looking pretty grim early on. Bo Horvat was absolutely clutch, potting the game-winner and adding an assist that really swung the momentum. Simon Holmstrom piled on with two goals, including an empty-netter, and Anthony Duclair kicked things off with an early score. Ilya Sorokin was a brick wall between the pipes, stopping 28 shots, making sure the Islanders moved to a 4-3-1 record.
Horvat and Holmstrom Step Up for Islanders
Duclair got the Islanders on the board first, making it 1-0 at 8:18 in the opening period when he took a pass in the slot and fired it through a screen. It was a sweet setup! The second period saw the Leafs’ Kirill Marchenko, fresh off a hat trick on Thursday, get a couple of solid chances, but Sorokin just wasn’t having it. Then, late in the second, with just 1:27 left, Horvat beat Bobrovsky to put the Islanders up 2-0. That was a huge moment, right? Toronto’s Colton Sissons did manage to get one back at 3:54 in the third period with a tipped shot, pulling the Leafs within one. But Holmstrom quickly restored the two-goal lead off Horvat’s setup with 5:52 remaining, before sealing the deal with an empty-net goal just over two minutes later. Talk about closing it out!
Toronto’s Early Season Skid Is Getting Hard to Ignore
For the Maple Leafs, this loss stings, pushing their record to 3-4-2. They’ve dropped three straight games now and four of their last five overall. That’s not the start anyone wanted. Sergei Bobrovsky only stopped 16 shots, and you gotta wonder what’s going on there. Even worse, their No. 1 overall pick, Gavin McKenna, who was benched for the entire second half of Thursday’s game, got a partial breakaway chance late in the second period and just fired it high and wide. Ouch. When your top pick can’t connect, and your team is on a slide, questions are definitely gonna start popping up. It also didn’t help that the Islanders’ Matias Maccelli, who played for Toronto last season, left in the first period with an apparent lower-body injury after falling awkwardly.
The Islanders are back on the ice Tuesday night, hosting Anaheim. The Maple Leafs, meanwhile, need to figure things out fast as they host San Jose on Monday night. Can they turn it around, or is this early slump a sign of bigger problems?
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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