TORONTO: Anthony Stolarz made 26 saves and the Toronto Maple Leafs held off the New York Islanders 2-1 on Wednesday night at Scotiabank Arena for their first win of the 2026-27 NHL season.
Colton Sissons and Easton Cowan scored 4:41 apart in the first period, and Stolarz protected that lead the rest of the way, according to the NHL’s official game summary. Emil Heineman spoiled the shutout with a short-handed goal for the Islanders at 14:09 of the third period, but New York could not find the equalizer.
The result came one night after Toronto opened its season with a 3-2 home loss to the Montreal Canadiens, and it levels the Leafs at 1-1-0. It was the season opener for the Islanders.
Final: Maple Leafs 2, Islanders 1. Shots: Islanders 27, Maple Leafs 26. Power plays: Toronto 1-for-4, New York 0-for-4.
Fast start, then a goaltending night
Sissons opened the scoring at 7:14 of the first, with assists from Nick Paul and Cowan, per NHL.com. Cowan then doubled the lead on the power play at 11:55, taking passes from Jack Roslovic and Morgan Rielly. The two-point night made Cowan the game’s second star, with Sissons named third star.
After that, the game belonged to the goaltenders. Neither team scored in the second period, and the Leafs carried a two-goal lead deep into the third. Stolarz, named the first star, finished with 26 saves on 27 shots for a .963 save percentage, according to the official boxscore.
At the other end, Ilya Sorokin stopped 24 of the 26 shots he faced for the Islanders, who outshot Toronto 27-26 over the full 60 minutes.
Islanders’ lone goal comes short-handed
New York’s only goal came while it was a man down. Heineman scored short-handed at 14:09 of the third, set up by Bo Horvat, to cut the lead to 2-1 and set up a tense finish. The Islanders went without a goal on four power-play chances of their own, per NHL.com, and that was the difference in a one-goal game.
Toronto’s power play, meanwhile, delivered the eventual winner. Cowan’s first-period goal was the Leafs’ only conversion in four tries.
What it means
For the Leafs, two games in two nights to start the season produced one loss to their oldest rival and one hard-earned win built on goaltending and a quick start. Auston Matthews and John Tavares were held off the scoresheet on Wednesday, so the offence came from the supporting cast, with Cowan, Sissons, Paul, Roslovic and Rielly all recording points.
For the Islanders, a 27-shot effort and a strong night from Sorokin were not enough to overcome two first-period goals against.
Elsewhere in the NHL on Wednesday, the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Philadelphia Flyers 7-0 and the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Los Angeles Kings 8-4. The Leafs were the only Canadian team in action. On Thursday, the Edmonton Oilers visit the Vancouver Canucks to complete their season-opening home-and-home series, and the Calgary Flames host the Seattle Kraken.
Sources: NHL.com official game summary and boxscore (NHL Gamecenter); final score confirmed against the ESPN scoreboard and the Fox Sports boxscore.
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Photo: Anthony Stolarz with the Florida Panthers in 2024, not from Wednesday’s game. Bassfish22, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
