New York Islanders jump on Maple Leafs early, down Toronto 3-1

Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll (60) looks on as New York Islanders players celebrate their second goal in Toronto on Tuesday March 17, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

TORONTO — Calum Ritchie had a goal and an assist on a pair of first-period power plays as the New York Islanders topped the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-1 on Tuesday.

Brayden Schenn, with his first goal since being acquired from the St. Louis Blues ahead of the NHL trade deadline, and Emil Heineman provided the rest of the offence for New York (39-24-5).

Ilya Sorokin made 24 saves. Mathew Barzal added three assists.

The Islanders, who started the night third in the Metropolitan Division, improved to 9-3-0 over their last 12 games.

Steven Lorentz replied for Toronto (29-28-12). Joseph Woll stopped 31 shots.

The Maple Leafs are now 2-1-1 since losing captain Auston Matthews for the season to a knee injury — a run on the heels of a head-scratching 0-6-2 slide that all but cratered their playoff hopes.

Takeaways

Islanders: Matthew Schaefer picked up an assist to move within one point of becoming the fourth rookie defenceman in franchise history to register 50 in a season. The 18-year-old from Hamilton is looking to join Stefan Persson (56 in 1977-78), Denis Potvin (54 in 1973-74) and Vladimir Malakhov (52 in 1992-93).

Maple Leafs: The club wore its green and white Toronto St. Pats jerseys — on St. Patrick’s Day — in honour of the club’s Irish roots. The franchise was known as the St. Pats from 1919 through 1927.

Key moment

A couple of early power plays pushed the visitors ahead. Schenn scored on the game’s first man-advantage opportunity at 4:15 of the opening period. Ritchie, a rookie forward from nearby Oakville, Ont., like Schaefer making his Scotiabank Arena debut, then doubled his team’s lead before the game was 10 minutes old.

Key stat

Toronto entered Tuesday with the NHL’s third-best penalty kill at 83.5 per cent. New York’s power play sat 29th overall at 15.9 per cent.

Up next

Islanders: Visit the Ottawa Senators on Thursday.

Maple Leafs: Host the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 17, 2026.

Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press