Schenn scores 1st with Islanders, who top Maple Leafs for 4th win in 5 games

TORONTO -- Brayden Schenn scored his first goal with the New York Islanders in a 3-1 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday.

It was the forward’s fifth game since being traded to the Islanders by the St. Louis Blues on March 6. 

“You always want to chip in offensively,” Schenn said. “It becomes even better when it comes in wins."

Matthew Schaefer, the No. 1 pick at the 2025 NHL Draft, who grew up about 50 miles southwest of Toronto in the Hamilton, Ontario area, had an assist in his first NHL game in Toronto for the Islanders (39-24-5), who are 4-1-0 in their past five games.

“Just seeing friends, family, some teachers were in the building tonight too,” Schaefer said. “I always talk to all the teachers back at (my old school). I’ll definitely go visit back there if I’m there back in time but hopefully, we can’t because we’re in the playoffs.”

Mathew Barzal had three assists, Calum Ritchie had a goal and an assist, and Ilya Sorokin made 26 saves for the Islanders, who are tied for second in the Metropolitan Division with the Pittsburgh Penguins, two points ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

"Everyone's winning games, including us,” Barzal said. “So that's just the race it is this year, and we just got to keep pace and hopefully push the pace. And we were looking at the score in the intermission -- I think Columbus probably won. So every game is so big right now, it's fun. That's the best part about this, this time of year, every game just means a little more. And every play, means a little more. The power play, it means a little more. This is what you play for."

Steven Lorentz scored and Joseph Woll made 31 saves for the Maple Leafs (29-28-12), who were 2-0-1 in their previous three.

“Tonight, not enough (offense),” Toronto coach Craig Berube said. “Our forecheck and how we got a lot pucks back, we have to do more with it, we didn’t do enough with it to generate, and we didn’t get to the net front. That’s the bottom line, that’s where it all start for me. If that goalie sees the puck, he’s going to stop most of them. We didn’t get to the net front and create some chaos and some second and third opportunities. That’s the difference in the game.”

Schenn put the Islanders up 1-0 on the power play at 4:15 of the first period when Ritchie spun a no-look backhand pass to him at the side of the net for a shot from the right hash marks. 

Ritchie made it 2-0 on the power play at 9:43 when he took a pass from Barzal at the side of the net, spun in front and jammed in his own rebound. The 21-year-old forward is from Oakville, Ontario, and was also playing his first NHL game in Toronto.

“They made a couple nice plays, it’s a tough play to defend when they’re doing that little pop guy down low,” Woll said. “He made a nice play on one, they get a fortunate bounce on the other. Our kill has been pretty dialed all year so you’re going to have bounces that go either way. That’s really what it was tonight.”

The Maple Leafs cut it to 2-1 at 4:40 of the second period. Benoit-Olivier Groulx swatted the puck ahead behind the goal line to Lorentz, who spun and swung a shot past Sorokin’s right pad from the right face-off dot. The goal was his first since Dec. 23, ending a 29-game drought.

“It helps tremendously but at the same time, I need to do a better job of not relying on scoring a goal to be able to get that confidence back,” Lorentz said. “A lot of my game isn’t based on scoring, it’s a lot of being able to play physical consistently and I think why I’ve struggled a little bit at times is maybe the puck hasn’t gone in and I haven’t got those bounces and in my mind, I do a little overthinking and think you have to get one back to get that confidence back.”

Emil Heineman made it 3-1 at 11:57 when he one-timed a pass from Tony DeAngelo at the right face-off dot.

The Islanders went 2-for-6 on the power play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill. 

"We want to play a good road game, and I thought that's what we did,” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. “Our power play was really good at the beginning of the game. Scored those two goals, and the penalty-killing did a really nice job. I thought we defended pretty well, and our goalie made some great saves when he had to. The third goal, I knew, was a big one for us. It was a great play by Tony ‘D’ on that play. But, you know, sometimes, I mean, it's not flashy. You just get the job done. And I think that's what we did tonight."

NOTES: Schaefer had the secondary assist on Ritchie’s goal, giving him 49 points (20 goals, 29 assists) in 68 games. He surpassed Bryan Berard (48 points in 1996-97) for the fourth-most points in a season by a rookie defenseman in Islanders history. … Maple Leafs defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson returned after missing Toronto’s last game on Sunday for the birth of his son. He played a game-high 25:53 and had three shots.