Auston Matthews broke a tie with 3:58 remaining in the third period to help the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 5-4 win against the New York Islanders at Barclays Center on Friday.
Matthews, who had a goal and an assist, made it 5-4 when he redirected William Nylander’s cross-crease pass past Islanders goaltender Christopher Gibson.
“A good two points for us,” said Matthews, who has a point in each of his five games since returning from a shoulder injury on March 22. “Obviously, they’re a high offensive team. They’ve got a lot of skill and firepower as far as that goes. You’ve got to find a way to contain them, and obviously, we’ve got some guys that can put the puck in the net as well. Probably not a fun game for the coaches, but a more fun game for the players.”
Mitchell Marner and Nazem Kadri each had a goal and an assist for Toronto (47-24-7), which is 8-2-0 in its past 10 games and six points behind the Boston Bruins for second place in the Atlantic Division. Frederik Andersen made 29 saves.