3 Takeaways: Isles Sweep Season Series with Maple Leafs After 3-2 Win

Pierre Engvall played the hero on Monday night, scoring the game-winning goal with 2:02 left to play as the New York Islanders beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 at Scotiabank Arena.

The goal meant a lot to Engvall, who was returning to Toronto for the first time since being traded by the Maple Leafs last season, and meant a lot for the Isles, who snapped a three-game winless skid.

The win also improved the Islanders to 3-0-0 against the Maple Leafs this season, which marked the Isles first season series sweep over the Leafs since 1989-90. The regulation win also helped the Isles close the gap on a team they’re chasing in the wild card standings. What was a six-point gap at the start of the day was a four-point gap by night’s end.

“Out of the break, you want to start strong,” Ryan Pulock said. “We know that we're going to have to put some points together here to get in the playoffs, so tonight was the first step to doing that.”

Mathew Barzal opened the scoring and Kyle MacLean scored his first NHL goal in the win. Ilya Sorokin stopped 35-of-37 shots. John Tavares (1G, 1A) and Mitch Marner scored for the Maple Leafs while Ilya Samsonov stopped 26-of-29 in the loss.

ISLANDERS KEEP THEIR COMPOSURE LATE:

There was a lot to like about Monday’s win, but what Head Coach Patrick Roy liked was the Islanders focus and composure when faced with adversity.

The Isles easily could have panicked after John Tavares tied the score on the power play with 4:48 to play and deviated from what their coach felt was a solid game to that point. Instead, they stayed the course and went back on the attack, with Pierre Engvall sliding a Brock Nelson rebound through Ilya Samsonov’s five-hole.

“What I love the most is they score that power-play goal to tie the game and our mindset was, ‘let's go get the next one,’" Roy said. “That pleased me a lot. To see our guys stay in the present moment and be able to not change our game because we gave up a goal.”

Roy remarked that the Islanders, who have given up 12 multi-goal leads, stayed calm during a game that featured several momentum swings and a lot of emotion, which included a skirmish after the final buzzer. The Isles led 1-0, 2-1 and eventually 3-2, and while that lead never grew, the Isles prevented the momentum from swinging back too far the other way.

“I just feel like we were in control,” Roy said. “We’ve been up and down for the last 10 games, so sometimes the confidence and you get a little nervous, but I felt like the guys were calm and they were under control.”

That was especially true in the dying minutes, when the Isles formed a shell around a superb Ilya Sorokin, who made five of his 34 saves in the final minute with the Isles up one. Sorokin’s best stop came on Morgan Rielly with eight seconds to go.

PELECH AND PULOCK RETURN:

The big development ahead of Monday’s game was the return of Ryan Pulock and Adam Pelech.

Pelech’s one game-absence was considerably shorter than Pulock’s 24 games, but the defensemen hadn’t played a full game together since Nov. 22.

The d-pair looked good in their first games back, both skating over 20 minutes (Pelech 20:49, Pulock 20:15). Pelech finished the game with three shots, five total attempts, three hits and three blocked shots, while Pulock finished the night with two shots, four total attempts, three hits and two blocked shots. Pelech was on the ice at the end of the game with the Isles defending a one-goal lead.

“What a performance from these two guys I mean they were rock solid and they were controlling the game,” Roy said. “Obviously I didn't know Pulock that much, but I mean I was pretty impressed by his performance tonight. He's a really good defenseman.”

Pulock saw some shifts on the second power-play unit, as well as some time shorthanded. He made some noise with a big hit on Tyler Bertuzzi behind the Islanders net in the first period as well, getting himself in the game early.

“It was good. I think after being out that long, that first period was tough just pace and stuff getting back in it,” Pulock said. “I tried keeping it simple and tried to take short shifts.”

HORVAT STEPS UP, MACLEAN SCORES FIRST GOAL:

Bo Horvat doesn’t have a letter on his jersey, but has shown himself to be a leader during his first calendar year with the Islanders.

The Islanders center, who was playing in his 700^th game, stepped up on Monday night, dropping the gloves with Simon Benoit after the Maple Leafs defenseman took a run at Mathew Barzal in the second period.

Horvat’s not a known fighter, with only four fights on his NHL resume, but he didn’t hesitate to take exception to what he perceived as a liberty with his all-star linemate.

“That’s who he is. He's a leader on this team,” Roy said. “Leaders always take care of their teammates. In life you have a chance and you could be an eagle or duck. He was an eagle.”

Initially, the fight looked to swing momentum in the Maple Leafs favor with Horvat getting the extra penalty of unsportsmanlike conduct. Mitch Marner roofed his 21^st of the season on the ensuing four-on-four, but the Hockey Gods restored the balance shortly after, as Kyle MacLean, who was serving the minor, stepped out of the box, onto a breakaway and into a highlight reel worthy first NHL goal.

“I guess that's the way the game goes,” MacLean said. “Kind of back and forth and I was just really lucky bounce coming out of the box and it coming right to me.”

MacLean, who is known more for doing the unheralded work with Bridgeport, made a nifty move on Samsonov, showing off some slick stickwork before slipping a backhander past the Leafs netminder. He said he was just relieved to see it go in, while his father, Isles Assistant Coach John MacLean, let a sliver of hockey dad excitement get through his reserved coach’s exterior.

“He had a little reaction, but don't tell anyone I’m not allowed to,” Roy joked about John MacLean. “But great for him. [Kyle’s] been playing very well for us and playing a good role for our team, so it's nice to see a young player be rewarded like this.”

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night at 8 p.m.