The Toronto Maple Leafs answered their opening-night loss with a 2-1 win over the New York Islanders on Wednesday (Sept. 30), and there was plenty to like in a game that stayed tight all the way through. With just three goals between the two teams, Toronto didn’t need a fireworks show to get the job done. It needed clean goaltending, a timely finish, and a penalty kill that didn’t blink.
Anthony Stolarz was at the center of it. The Maple Leafs goalie stopped 26 of 27 shots, finishing with a .963 save percentage, a 1.03 goals-against-average, and a +1.65 goals-saved-above-expected.
Goaltending was one of the biggest question marks hanging over Toronto heading into the season, so a night like this matters. It was the kind of performance that can settle a team down early and give everyone a little more confidence moving forward.
Offensively, Easton Cowan did the heavy lifting. He scored the game-winner and also picked up an assist on the first goal Colton Sissons scored.
Through two games, Cowan has one goal and two assists, and he’s on pace to finish with more than a point per game. That’s a strong start for a player in his second full NHL season, especially with expectations that he’ll be a key piece in the Maple Leafs’ middle-six forward group.
Last season, he posted 11 goals and 18 assists for 29 points in 66 games, and this opening stretch suggests there may be another level there.
Not every name on the sheet showed up on the scoresheet, and that included Gavin McKenna. The first overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft still hasn’t recorded a point through his first two games, but there’s no reason to make too much of it yet.
He hasn’t looked out of place, either. His speed and IQ have already appeared to be at the NHL level, even if the points haven’t come.
He may simply be shaking off some early nerves. Not everyone scores four goals in their first career NHL game, like Auston Matthews did.
Toronto also did its work on the penalty kill, shutting down all four Islanders power plays. That’s a clean sheet special teams coaches can build on, and it’s the kind of detail that tends to matter over a full season. If the Maple Leafs are going to make a push this year, special teams will have to hold up, and the penalty kill has started the season perfect through two games.
Toronto is back in action on Saturday (Oct. 3) against the Ottawa Senators in its third game of the season. It seems likely that Sergei Bobrovsky will be back between the pipes for that game, but we will see how that shakes out.
Either way, the Maple Leafs should feel good about the way they responded after dropping their opener.
In Other News...
Islanders Fans Are Getting New Game Day Perks At UBS Arena
The Islanders are giving UBS Arena and the surrounding Belmont Park campus a noticeable refresh for the 2026-27 season, layering in a new round of fan experiences and amenities around game nights. The club says the additions will touch several corners of the game-day visit, from new food and beverage options to exclusive spaces for American Express Card members, along with expanded group and premium offerings and a rotating mix of local restaurants and concession items throughout the building.
There is also a bigger play here beyond the arena walls, with the team folding more of Belmont Park into the game-day experience for ticket holders. The intent is to make a night at an Islanders game feel less like a single stop and more like a full campus visit, with one of the more interesting new perks tied to the racetrack side of the property and still set to become part of the routine for fans next season. [Read more 🡒]
Islanders Already Face An Early Concern After Opening Night Loss
The Islanders opened the season with a 2-1 loss to the Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena, and the box score already hinted at a familiar sort of frustration. New York came up empty on four power-play chances, killed three of four penalties and still found a way to stay in the game thanks in part to Ilya Sorokin, who made 24 saves and kept the margin tight long enough for the Islanders to have a shot late.
Emil Heinemans shorthanded goal gave New York one of the nights brighter moments, but the bigger concern from opening night was less about one missed opportunity than about the broader way the game was played around Sorokin. Peter DeBoer flagged the need for better support in front of his goalie, and after one game the Islanders are already staring at a problem that can snowball quickly if it lingers. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Suddenly Face A Backup Goalie Problem They Risked Creating
A week after sending Dylan Garand back to Hartford, the Rangers are leaning on him again after recalling the young goalie from the AHL. The move came as New York dealt with an off-ice injury to backup Joonas Korpisalo, leaving the club to shuffle its depth chart faster than it probably wanted after exposing Garand to waivers.
Garands return underscores the risk the Rangers took in trying to keep their goalie pipeline intact without carrying three on the roster for long. He cleared waivers on the way down, and now he is back in the fold as the team waits to see how long Korpisalo is unavailable and how the crease picture settles in the coming days. [Read more 🡒]