Islanders News: Starting with a whimper in Toronto

Victor Eklund played his second NHL game, so that was neat, and he got his first NHL penalty by crosschecking John Tavares on his butt, so that was funny, but the Leafs scored what proved to be the winner late on the ensuing power play, so that was not.

The Isles had a bit of jump early in the opening period, with Toronto playing on back-to-back nights, but penalty trouble and chaotic defensive zone chasing killed that vibe. After a series of dangerous chances on Ilya Sorokin both at 5-on-5 and the Leafs power play, the Isles were trailing 2-0 by the 12:00 mark. They didn't rally a promising response until well into the third. Their special teams, a long-running thorn, were no help.

Other than Matthew Schaefer skating like the wind, the lone highlight was Emil Heineman outracing William Nylander on a shorthanded break to convert Bo Horvat 's pass and make it look close. There was also one line mix late, with Anthony Duclair being promoted while Matias Maccelli ended on the Casey Cizikas-Ondrej Palat line, aka This Thing That Should Not Be line.