Nelson, Prince help Islanders beat Maple Leafs 5-1
NEW YORK (AP) Brock Nelson and Shane Prince each had a goal and an assist, Thomas Greiss stopped 33 shots, and the New York Islanders beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-1 Sunday night.
Travis Hamonic, Casey Cizikas and Josh Bailey also scored, and Nikolay Kulemin, Nick Leddy and Dennis Seidenberg each had two assists to help the Islanders snap a two-game skid.
Jake Gardiner scored for the Maple Leafs and Jhonas Enroth finished with 30 saves. Toronto lost its sixth straight on the road (0-3-3).
After Gardiner scored 50 seconds into the third to pull the Maple Leafs to 2-1, Prince and Nelson scored 2:39 apart to stretch new York's lead to three.
Prince first took advantage of a strange bounce of the puck to give the Islanders a 3-1 lead. Prince then forced a turnover and had the primary assist on Nelson's goal. Seidenberg had assists on both goals.
Bailey capped the scoring in the final minute.
The Islanders honored former fan-favorite Matt Martin with a video tribute during a stoppage in the opening period. It was the first time Martin played against them since signing a four-year, $10 million deal with Toronto in the offseason. Martin played the first 438 games of his career with New York, and is 34th on the franchise's games played list.
Hamonic got the Islanders off to a fast start, scoring 1:01 into the game. It was the eighth goal in the last five games for New York defensemen, who have nine goals and 10 assists on the season.
Cizikas got his first of the season, burying a rebound of Cal Clutterbuck's shot at 7:22 of the first to make it 2-0. Kulemin, who replaced Martin on the Islanders' fourth line, had assists on each of the first two goals.
Toronto rookie sensation Auston Matthews, the top pick in the 2016 NHL draft, registered four shots in his first career appearance against the Islanders.
Martin and Andrew Ladd got into a skirmish near the end of the second period. Ladd, who signed a seven-year $38.5 million contract with the Islanders in the offseason, has just one assist in nine games.
NOTES: The Islanders scratched C Mathew Barzal, G Jean-Francois Berube and RW Alan Quine. ... Jaroslav Halak backed up Greiss after he was reportedly put on the trade block. Halak's agent, Allan Walsh, voiced his displeasure on Twitter on Friday. ... The Islanders wore purple jerseys during warmups as part of the NHL Hockey Fights Cancer campaign. ... Toronto scratched D Matt Hunwick (lower body), D Frank Corrando and C Peter Holland. ... Toronto has six rookies who have combined for 34 points in night games, which leads the league. ... Gardiner scored his first goal of the regular season and is three assists shy of 100 career assists.
UP NEXT
Maple Leafs: Host Edmonton on Tuesday night in the first NHL matchup between Matthews and the Oilers' Connor McDavid - the last two No. 1 draft picks.
Islanders: Host Tampa Bay on Tuesday night in the teams' first meeting since the Lightning eliminated the Islanders in the Eastern Conference semifinals last spring.
