Islanders extend point streak to 13 with win against Maple Leafs

UNIONDALE, N.Y. --The New York Islanders extended their point streak to 13 games with a 5-4 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Nassau Coliseum on Wednesday.

Anthony Beauvillier scored two goals, Derick Brassard had one goal and two assists, and Mathew Barzal had a goal and an assist for New York (13-3-1), which hung on after nearly blowing a three-goal lead late in the third period. Semyon Varlamov made 23 saves.
The Islanders are 12-0-1 during the point streak.
WATCH: [All Maple Leafs vs. Islanders highlights]
"Our power play was really good (2-for-3) and our penalty kill was pretty good today (2-for-2)," Islanders coach Barry Trotz said. "Our 5-on-5, our 6-on-5 towards the end, we've got to clean that up. That might be our meeting tomorrow."
John Tavares had a goal and an assist for Toronto (9-7-4), which has lost two in a row following a five-game point streak (3-0-2). Frederik Andersen made 25 saves.

The Maple Leafs were outshot 15-9 in the third period after controlling the play for much of the second. Justin Holl and Tavares scored 1:09 apart late in the third after Toronto trailed 5-2.
"The bottom line is we're through 20 games now, and when you evaluate what we've done in 20 games, we don't like it as a group," Toronto coach Mike Babcock said. "We think we can be better, and we'll identify the areas again here tomorrow as we go through it and grind our way out of this.
"We got ourselves in the spot we're in, we've got to grind our way out of it."
Beauvillier gave New York a 2-0 lead with a power-play goal at 19:21 of the first period with a wrist shot from the left circle that found its way through traffic and off Andersen's glove.
His second of the game put the Islanders back in front 3-2 at 16:43 of the second after the Maple Leafs rallied to tie it. Brassard skated towards the slot from the right circle and found Beauvillier in front, where he scored on a backhand.
"He's really dangerous with his speed," Brassard said of Beauvillier. "He's competing really hard, and that's why he's having success right now. He's hungry."
Kasperi Kapanen scored 43 seconds into the second period when Travis Dermott's shot from the left point went off Tavares in the slot before Kapanen redirected it in front of the crease to make it 2-1.

William Nylander extended his goal streak to three games at 11:22 when he redirected Andreas Johnsson's feed from the left circle to tie it 2-2.
The Maple Leafs outshot the Islanders 13-6 in the second period.
"I think we played a good game for the most part," Nylander said. "We've just got to sharpen up on a few things to not let them score goals."
Brassard one-timed Barzal's pass at the right circle at 8:07 of the third to make it 4-2. It was New York's second power-play goal of the game.
"When you're an offensive player, sometimes you go out there and that's when you get your touches, your confidence," Brassard said of the power play. "Special teams can win you some games, and tonight our power play was clicking."

Casey Cizikas scored into an empty net at 17:32 to extend the lead to 5-2 before Holl beat Varlamov on a wraparound at 18:13 to make it 5-3, and Tavares scored on a rebound with 38 seconds remaining to cut it to 5-4.
Barzal gave New York a 1-0 lead at 14:23 of the first period on a one-timer from Jordan Eberle.
"We let loose a little bit at moments during the game," Beauvillier said. "[Varlamov] was there for us. I thought we did a good job sticking with it. The PK and power play were good tonight."

They said it

"It feels like when we do make a mistake it seems to really hurt us, because I thought, especially in the first period, we had a pretty good first period until they got their first goal and then they capitalize on the power play and got the momentum. We played really well again in the second, didn't come out the greatest in the third, and they got another power-play goal, so special teams really hurt us today. It just seems like when we do make a mistake, we're getting burned. I think parts of this game, we did a lot of good things. We tried to stay patient, stayed with it, got ourselves back in it, but just too many mistakes leading to too many [goals] against." -- Maple Leafs center John Tavares
"[The fans] were full throttle tonight, and especially for myself, I feed off of that. It was a [Coliseum] effort. I think every single person earned that win tonight." -- Islanders forward Casey Cizikas

Need to know

Maple Leafs forward Zach Hyman had one shot in 17:37 in his season debut; he had surgery in April for a torn ACL. … The assist on Kapanen's goal was Tavares' 100th point in 95 games with Toronto. … Holl's goal was his first since Feb. 1, 2018. … Islanders forward Leo Komarov returned after missing nine games with an illness and neck injury. … Barzal's goal extended his point streak to three games, and he has nine points (four goals, five assists) in his past seven games. … Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock had two assists.

What's next

Maple Leafs: Host the Boston Bruins on Friday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, TVAS, TSN4, NESN, NHL.TV)
Islanders:At the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSP, MSG+ 2, NHL.TV)