In Toronto, the Maple Leafs let a 2-1 lead get away form them in the third period on a goal by the Islanders Josh Bailey, to tie it, 2-2, and force extra time on Monday night.
“At that point in time, you just give it what you’ve got,” Bailey said. “We were fortunate to get a bounce and tie it up, and then get a great goal in OT. When you are down one, you are never out of it.”
Anthony Beauvillier completed the rally with the winner at 1:56 of the extra session for a 3-2 win for the Isles.
“I said sorry to ‘Nelly’ right after the goal, I just felt like screaming and looking up,” Beauvillier said. “I felt pretty good, felt pretty good throughout the game, and that’s all that matters. I felt like I had my legs. I feel like I am going way too far here, but I felt good.”
Ilya Sorokin made 30 saves in the Islanders win.
New York improved to 12-8–0.
“Sorokin was great for us, as per usual, and gave us a chance,” Bailey said. “I think we were all a little bit tired. We’ve been on the road for a little while, but that’s part of playing in this league, you just have to grind it out some nights. We just stuck with it, and we were fortunate to find a way to get a win.”
Noah Dobson scored at 15:21 of the first pored to give the Isles a 1-0 lead.
John Tavares scored in the middle frame to tie it, 1-1, for the Maple Leafs.
“I thought we controlled play and limited a lot of their chances, but obviously a bit of an error and they force overtime and then it’s anybody’s game,” Toronto forward Auston Matthews said. “So, not the result we wanted, but I thought there were a lot of good things we could build off tonight.”
The Maple Leafs dropped to 10-5-5.
“We had to grind that one out,” New York captain Anders Lee said. “Guys had heavy legs tonight and there wasn’t a ton out there on both sides. They had a good push early in the first, but then we settled in and finished the first period off. The second was just [grinding] hockey and the third we were able to stick with it the whole way and Bailey coming up huge tying that thing up.”
Toronto took a 2-1 lead in the middle frame off a strike from Matthews.
Erik Kallgren made 21 saves in the Toronto loss.
“We definitely have to look at our 3-on-3 and try to figure that out and stop forcing stuff,” Marner said. “Realize when opportunities are there, then take it but stop forcing it.”
