{"id":509250,"date":"2026-03-18T08:21:49","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T08:21:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/509250\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T08:21:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T08:21:49","slug":"islanders-get-much-needed-road-win-over-maple-leafs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/509250\/","title":{"rendered":"Islanders get much-needed road win over Maple Leafs"},"content":{"rendered":"

TORONTO \u2014 For all the pregame hype around Matthew Schaefer playing his first game in Toronto<\/a>, it was the Islanders\u2019 other area-native rookie, Cal Ritchie, who scored in his first game back home Tuesday.<\/p>\n

And for all the consternation about the Islanders\u2019 power play all year long, the 5-on-4 unit finally looks like it\u2019s heating up, scoring twice for the second time in four games.<\/p>\n

That all added up to a fairly straightforward 3-1 win against a Maple Leafs side that looks painfully aware of how poor a season they\u2019re having. <\/p>\n

Brayden Schenn celebrates with Matthew Schaefer after scoring a goal during the Islanders\u2019 3-1 win over the Maple Leafs during the first period at the Scotiabank Arena on March 17, 2026 in Toronto. NHLI via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Two points here was a box the Islanders had to check on this road trip that heads next to Ottawa, with a razor-tight playoff race affording little margin for error.<\/p>\n

Coach Patrick Roy was asked afterward \u2014 and after the Blue Jackets dispatched Carolina \u2014 about watching Columbus and Pittsburgh, the Islanders\u2019 two chief opponents in the race, win seemingly every night.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they see us winning every night too,\u201d Roy said.<\/p>\n

His team, a winner in four of five, filled its end of the bargain here in workmanlike fashion. The Islanders led from 4:15 in and put on a clinic in defending a lead: controlling possession, putting the puck deep, keeping Toronto to the outside. It was far from the most entertaining game of the season, but the two headliners \u2014 Ritchie and the power play \u2014 carry serious implications if what happened Tuesday can last.<\/p>\n

There have been moments this season when Ritchie has seemed to waver in confidence, and as recently as a couple of weeks ago, it felt like the Islanders were pushing for more out of the 21-year-old. He\u2019s continued to have ups and downs, as expected from any rookie, but the move to the wing is going well. So is his move to the goal-line spot on the power play, which he\u2019d never played before the Islanders assigned it to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou watch a lot of clips,\u201d Ritchie said. \u201cGot a lot of really good players on this team that I can learn from. I\u2019m trying to take it all in, trying to learn every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Calum Ritchie celebrates at the bench after scoring a goal during the Islanders\u2019 road win over the Maple Leafs. Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

It was only right, too, that Brayden Schenn \u2014 whom the Isles have assigned to mentor Ritchie \u2014 scored his first Islanders goal on an assist from the rookie, and it was a beauty, with Ritchie in the middle of a tic-tac-toe power-play goal that started with Mathew Barzal and ended with a Schenn one-timer for a 1-0 lead.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe talked a lot,\u201d Schenn said. \u201cHe\u2019s working at it, and he\u2019s getting rewarded for it, which is cool to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was the first of two goals the power play scored in the first period, and the second was all Ritchie, stuffing in his own rebound just nine seconds after Brandon Carlo went for a high stick. That made it a perfect homecoming for Ritchie, who said he got chills standing on the blue line for the national anthem.<\/p>\n

That ought to boost Ritchie\u2019s confidence plenty. Just as important: The power play suddenly seems potent, having won the Islanders a game in St. Louis last week \u2014 another two-point game for Ritchie \u2014 and having gotten them out to an early lead Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Toronto center Jacob Quillan (26) battles with defenseman Carson Soucy (4) in front of goaltender Ilya Sorokin (30) during the third period of the Islanders\u2019 road win over the Maple Leafs. Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

At this point in the year, it\u2019s likely too late to rescue the Islanders\u2019 woeful ranking at 5-on-4, but they can certainly render it meaningless. Finally, there appear to be signs of a breakthrough.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t anything pretty,\u201d Bo Horvat told The Post. \u201cWe just took pucks to the net, and Ritch did a great job taking the puck to the net, especially on his goal. And a great feed over to Schenner on his.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not trying to overcomplicate things. It\u2019s just moving the puck fast and doing it well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOn the ice from Long Island\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Islanders by Ethan Sears, a weekly Sports+ exclusive.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

For all that, plus Barzal notching a three-assist night for the first time since January 2024, one would think this game had plenty more excitement than it did.<\/p>\n

Aside from the odd moment, though \u2014 Morgan Rielly dropping gloves with Kyle MacLean, Emil Heineman\u2019s one-timer that made it 3-1 off a suffocating top-line shift \u2014 the game stayed in a sort of stasis. The Leafs, with little energy in front of a quiet home crowd, never really forced the issue, and the Islanders were plenty content with that equilibrium.<\/p>\n

All told, it was one of the more forgettable 60 minutes of the season. If its trends can last, though, it may be one of the more significant. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TORONTO \u2014 For all the pregame hype around Matthew Schaefer playing his first game in Toronto, it was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":509251,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5110],"tags":[5,122,1951,3328,159,5190,5189,4,349,43,31],"class_list":{"0":"post-509250","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-islanders","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-islanders","10":"tag-mathew-barzal","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-islanders","13":"tag-newyork","14":"tag-newyorkislanders","15":"tag-nhl","16":"tag-ny-sports-minute","17":"tag-sports","18":"tag-toronto-maple-leafs"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116249217210886163","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=509250"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509250\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/509251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=509250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=509250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=509250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}