Maple Leafs beat Islanders 2-1 for Hiller’s major first win
Easton Cowan had a goal and an assist Wednesday, Sept. 30, as the Toronto Maple Leafs beat Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin twice in the first period and held on for a 2-1 win over New York at Scotiabank Arena. Anthony Stolarz made 26 saves to hold off a late push, giving Jim Hiller his first win as Toronto’s coach, NHL.com reported.
Colton Sissons opened the scoring in the first period, and Cowan added a power-play goal later in the frame to make it 2-0. New York’s Emil Heineman scored short-handed in the third period, while Sorokin made 24 saves in the loss.
How the Maple Leafs beat Islanders goalie Sorokin
Both Toronto goals came in the opening 20 minutes. The Islanders outshot Toronto 4-0 early, but Sissons redirected a Nick Paul shot at 7:14, 10 seconds after the Maple Leafs’ first shot on goal. Cowan then jammed home a rebound off Sorokin’s left pad on the power play at 11:55, after Jack Roslovic’s shot from the left faceoff dot, per NHL.com.
“It was just a great play by Paul to see me coming through the back door,” said Sissons, whose goal was his first with Toronto. Stolarz credited Roslovic for shooting with a rebound in mind on Cowan’s goal and said Cowan was in the “right place at the right time.”
Stolarz kept it a two-goal game at 6:38 of the third period, reaching back with his right pad to stop Anthony Duclair at the side of the net. “Probably a half scorpion-type save,” Stolarz said.
Heineman cut it to 2-1 at 14:09, beating William Nylander up the ice and finishing a saucer pass from Bo Horvat. Toronto went 1-for-4 on the power play and killed all four Islanders power plays, including two in the third period.
Player of the game: Easton Cowan stars as Maple Leafs beat Islanders
Cowan finished with a goal, an assist, three shots and a plus-1 rating in 13:23 of ice time, according to the ESPN box score. He set up Sissons’ opener by carrying the puck out of the corner, then scored the eventual game-winner.
“I felt good. Our line was clicking,” Cowan said, per NHL.com. The 21-year-old had 11 goals and 18 assists in 66 games in 2025-26 and helped the Toronto Marlies win the Calder Cup last spring.
Horvat said New York played better once it “stopped turning pucks over and simplified our game a lot,” but the Islanders could not find an equalizer.
What the coaches said
“You appreciate the hardness, the blocked shots, the desperation at the end,” said Hiller, who replaced Craig Berube on June 17.
Islanders coach Peter DeBoer liked his team’s first 10 minutes but said penalties swung the momentum. “It’s hard to win on the road in this league, and especially when you put yourself in a 2-0 hole,” DeBoer said.
Maple Leafs vs. Islanders by the numbers
The Maple Leafs beat Islanders centers in the faceoff circle, too, winning 30 of 50 draws (60 percent), and blocked 21 shots to New York’s 11, per ESPN. Stolarz posted a .963 save percentage, while Sorokin finished at .923 on 26 shots.
The game was the first meeting between the past two No. 1 NHL draft picks. Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer (2025) had three shots in a game-high 27:45, and Maple Leafs forward Gavin McKenna (2026) had one shot in 15:32, NHL.com noted.
Records after the Maple Leafs beat Islanders
The Maple Leafs improved to 1-1-0 after losing their opener 3-2 to the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday. The Islanders fell to 0-1-0.
For more, read our Islanders vs. Maple Leafs preview, the Matthew Knies-Kirill Marchenko trade and the latest NHL news.