Maple Leafs vs. Islanders: Easton Cowan's Goal and Assist Deliver Jim Hiller's First Win in Toronto

A day after a home-opening loss to Montreal, the Toronto Maple Leafs needed something to feel good about. Easton Cowan handed it to them before the first intermission, and Anthony Stolarz guarded it like it was the last slice of pizza at a team party.

Cowan had a goal and an assist in the first period, Colton Sissons scored his first goal as a Leaf, Stolarz made 26 saves, and Toronto beat the New York Islanders 2-1 on Wednesday night at Scotiabank Arena. It was the first win under new coach Jim Hiller and the first game of the season for the Islanders, who spent the final period pounding on the door and got through it only once.

The Islanders Started Fast, Toronto Finished First

New York came out flying. The Islanders had the first four shots on goal, according to NHL.com, and Toronto did not register a shot until Nick Paul tested Ilya Sorokin at 7:04. Ten seconds later, the Leafs had the lead.

Cowan won the puck out of the corner and moved it to Paul, and Sissons deflected Paul's slot shot past Sorokin from the top of the crease at 7:14. For a team that had been chasing the play, it was a perfectly timed jump scare.

The Leafs then took advantage of the first penalty of the night. Victor Eklund went off for cross-checking John Tavares at 10:01, and Toronto struck at 11:55. Morgan Rielly kept the play alive at the point by batting down an attempted clear, Jack Roslovic fired from the left side, and the rebound kicked off Sorokin to Cowan at the right post. That was 2-0, and it was the kind of play Stolarz later described with real appreciation. "Right place at the right time," he said of Cowan.

The Middle Stretch: Penalties, Blocks, and a Lot of Waiting

The second period had no goals but plenty of special teams. Tavares went off for slashing at 3:41, Paul for hooking at 8:35, and New York got nothing from either chance. Brayden Schenn took a hooking minor at 18:14, and Toronto could not cash in on that one either.

The Leafs were blocking everything in sight. They finished with 21 blocked shots to New York's 11, a number Hiller would bring up later with obvious pride.

The Turning Point: Stolarz's Scorpion Kick

Early in the third, Toronto needed its goalie. At 6:38, Anthony Duclair worked the puck at the side of the net, and Stolarz flung his right pad back behind him to make the stop.

"Probably a half scorpion-type save," Stolarz said. "He just kept dragging it and dragging it and you're just trying to do whatever it takes to make that save."

That stop kept the cushion at two goals. Twenty-one seconds later, Kirill Marchenko went off for hooking, and then Jake McCabe tripped Bo Horvat at 10:50. The Leafs killed both.

The Islanders did break through, but with their own penalty kill on the ice. With Matias Maccelli in the box for holding, Emil Heineman got a step on William Nylander, and Horvat lifted a saucer pass onto his stick. Heineman's chip beat Stolarz at 14:09. That made it 2-1 with 5:51 left. Toronto held on, and the Islanders never got the tying goal.

Stars of the Night

Easton Cowan had a goal and an assist in 13:23 with two hits. He is beginning his second full NHL season after 66 games (11 goals, 18 assists) in 2025-26, and NHL.com noted he also helped the Toronto Marlies win the Calder Cup with 18 points in 22 playoff games. "I felt good. Our line was clicking," Cowan said.

Anthony Stolarz stopped 26 of 27 shots, a .963 save percentage. The AP noted he is reunited with Sergei Bobrovsky after the two won the Stanley Cup together with Florida in 2024.

Colton Sissons scored his first Toronto goal on a tip and won seven faceoffs. "It was just a great play by Paul to see me coming through the back door," Sissons said.

Morgan Rielly logged 19:49 and picked up the secondary assist on the power-play goal, while Jack Roslovic got the primary helper.

For New York, Emil Heineman scored short-handed and Bo Horvat logged 22:31 with the assist. Horvat thought the Islanders found something late. "When we stopped turning pucks over and simplified our game a lot and got pucks behind them and started going to work, we were a lot more successful," he said. Ilya Sorokin made 24 saves on 26 shots.

Stats That Matter

• 21-11: Toronto's edge in blocked shots.
• 30-20: Toronto's faceoff advantage, a 60 percent clip.
• 4-for-4: Toronto's penalty kill, including 2-for-2 in the third period.
• 27-26: New York's slim shot advantage.
• 27:45: Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer's game-high ice time, with three shots.

What It Means

Toronto improves to 1-1-0 after the 3-2 loss to Montreal on Tuesday. Hiller, hired on June 17 to replace Craig Berube, gets his first win. "It was great to see that type of a win," he said. "You like to see the easy ones, trust me, when you are standing behind the bench, but you appreciate the hardness, the blocked shots, the desperation at the end." The Leafs host Ottawa on Saturday.

New York starts 0-1-0, and DeBoer liked parts of it. "I loved our start," he said. He also pointed to the obvious problem. "It's hard to win on the road in this league, and especially when you put yourself in a 2-0 hole," he said. NHL.com noted the game was the first meeting between the last two No. 1 overall picks, Schaefer (2025) and Toronto's Gavin McKenna (2026), who had one shot in 15:32. The Islanders host New Jersey on Saturday.

Closing Take

Toronto's opener was a bad first date. This one was the follow-up text that went well: not perfect, a little awkward in the third, but enough to keep things going. Hiller summed up the vibe. Wins like this, he said, "always feel pretty good, too." The Leafs needed one that felt good. They got it.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details from the Associated Press; postgame quotes and team notes as reported by NHL.com.