The NY Islanders offense was a no show in opening night loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs

The 2026-27 season is underway with the NY Islanders dropping their first game of the season 2-1, falling to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Islanders came out with their hair on fire, dominating the first five minutes of action. Unable to capitalize, the Maple Leafs found their feet and quickly took over play. Colton Scissons opened teh scoring, tallying his first of the season at 7:14 into the game for his first as a Maple Leaf. Going short-handed on a Victor Eklund cross-check, the Leafs found the back of the net for a second time on a tap-in goal by Easton Cowan.

The Islanders picked up the pace in the third period, as Emil Heineman scored the team's first goal of the campaign, registering a short-handed goal off a beautiful pass by Bo Horvat.

The difference maker on the night was Anthony Stolarz. The veteran netminder made a paddle save along teh goal line, robbing Victor Eklund of his first NHL goal. In the third period, while sprawled out, it looked as if Anthony Duclair had an open goal, but Stolarz threw his right pad in the air, saving a would-be goal.

Finishing in the bottom three in the league on the power play in three of the last four seasons, the Islanders went 0-4 on the man-advantage tonight. There was better puck movement, but they didn't really test Stolarz much on the power play.

The Islanders will play their first home game of teh season on Saturday night, looking to shake the cobwebs against the NJ Devils.

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