Cal Clutterbuck had two goals and an assist as the New York Islanders scored all of their points in the final two periods in a 7-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday night.
Anders Lee and Noah Dobson each had a goal and an assist, and Zach Parise, Hudson Fasching and Simon Holmstrom also scored to help the Islanders win their third straight game and improve to 7-2-1 in their last 10. Jean -Gabriel Pageau had two assists and Ilya Sorokin finished with 24 saves.
New York moved three points ahead of Florida for the first wild card in the Eastern Conference. The Panthers lost 6-3 in Philadelphia.
Sam Lafferty and Mitchell Marner scored for Toronto, which had won two straight. Ilya Samsonov had 22 saves.
After the Islanders scored three times in the second period to take a 3-1 lead, Auston Matthews set up Marner for a single shot from the slot to bring the Maple Leafs within one with 3:39 of the third. It was March 27.
The Islanders responded 44 seconds later when Clutterbuck intercepted a loose puck and ran across the ice before landing a wrist shot past Samsonov’s blocker to restore a two-goal lead. It was his second of the night and sixth of the season.
Holstrom made it 5-2 midway through the third when he converted his second drive up front on a rebound off Lee’s try.
Dobson scored on an empty net with 6:04 remaining for his 13th, and Lee redirected a shot from the spot for his 27th less than three minutes later to cap the four-goal period.
Lafferty opened the scoring with a deflection after Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield failed to tie up the Maple Leafs forward in front of the Islanders net with just under nine minutes left in the first.
Sorokin kept the Islanders’ deficit to one goal with an incredible save with the stick with 7:22 left in the first period, crushing Maple Leafs defenseman Erik Gustafsson’s shot into an open net from the air with his stick.
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Parise tied the score 28 seconds into the second with a timer from a Mayfield pass. Pageau also had an assist on the play to extend his scoring streak to four games.
Fasching hit a shot past Samsonov’s glove with 6:10 remaining in the period after Toronto’s Timothy Liljegren missed a punt attempt in the defensive zone. It was Fasching’s seventh goal in 39 games this season.
The Islanders extended their lead to 3-1 after Maple Leafs forward Zach Aston-Reese couldn’t control a puck along the boards and Clutterbuck was able to redirect Ryan Pulock’s shot past Samsonov. It was Clutterbuck’s first goal since he returned to the lineup in mid-March after missing 20 games with an upper-body injury.
Islanders forward Brock Nelson left the game and did not return after taking a penalty check from Noel Acciari along the boards.
Marner recorded his 90th point of the season and became the first Maple Leafs skater since Doug Gilmour (1992-94 and 1993-94) to record back-to-back 90-point seasons. The only other skaters to do so in franchise history are Darryl Sittler (1975–78 and 1979-81) and Lanny McDonald (1975-77). … Islanders president and general manager Lou Lamoriello recorded his 1,400th win as general manager, joining David Poile (1,525) as the only two with at least 1,400 regular-season wins. Lamoriello has 188 wins with the Islanders, 118 with the Maple Leafs (2015-18) and 1,093 with the Devils (1987-2015).
Maple Leafs: In Florida on Thursday night.
Islanders: In Columbus on Friday night.
