Leafs rebound from opening loss with win vs. Islanders

The Associated Press• ·
TORONTO, ON - SEPTEMBER 30: Toronto Maple Leafs Right Winger Easton Cowan (53) celebrates after scoring a goal with Left Winger Gavin McKenna (92) during the first period of the NHL regular season game between the New York Islanders and the Toronto Maple Leafs on September 30, 2026, at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, ON, Canada.
Icon Sportswire / Getty

TORONTO (AP) — Easton Cowan had a goal and an assist in the first period and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the New York Islanders 2-1 on Wednesday night for their first victory under coach Jim Hiller.

The Maple Leafs rebounded from a 3-2 home loss to Montreal in their opener Tuesday night, spoiling the Islanders' first game of the season.

Colton Sissons also scored for Toronto, and Anthony Stolarz made 26 saves.

Emil Heineman scored in the third period for New York. Ilya Sorokin stopped 24 shots.

Sissons redirected his first goal for Toronto at 7:14 of the first period off Nick Paul's setup. Cowan then shoveled home a power-play rebound with 8:05 left in the period.

Reunited with fellow netminder Sergei Bobrovsky after winning the Stanley Cup together with Florida in 2024, Stolarz was perfect until Heineman scored short-handed with 5:51 left.

Up next

Islanders: Host New Jersey on Saturday night.

Maple Leafs: Host Ottawa on Saturday night.

___

See AP’s full NHL coverage here

XRedditFacebookWhatsAppEmailSMS

More Stories

Vancouver Canucks on X
Vancouver Canucks
@Canucks

PAUL COTTER CALLS GAME.

Cotter's relentless OT effort helps Canucks avoid disastrous collapse 😅

•@Canucks on X