Clutterbuck scores twice to help Islanders demolish Maple Leafs
Toronto has 2-game winning streak snapped in 7-2 road defeat
Cal Clutterbuck had two goals and an assist as the New York Islanders got all their scoring in the final two periods in a 7-2 win over the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday night.
Anders Lee and Noah Dobson each had a goal and an assist, and Zach Parise, Hudson Fasching and Simon Holmstrom also scored to help the Islanders win their third straight and improve to 7-2-1 in their last 10. Jean-Gabriel Pageau had two assists and Ilya Sorokin finished with 24 saves.
New York moved three points ahead of Florida for the top wild-card berth in the Eastern Conference. The Panthers lost 6-3 at Philadelphia.
Sam Lafferty and Mitchell Marner scored for Toronto, which had won two straight. Ilya Samsonov made 22 saves.
"We weren't getting enough pucks directly to the net, trying to make too many plays," Marner said. "They won a lot more battles. When they got the pucks, they were getting them toward the net and getting bodies there. When they had their clean looks, they didn't miss."
WATCH l Clutterbuck shows off speed, shooting ability for 2nd goal:
After the Islanders scored three times in the second period to take a 3-1 lead, Auston Matthews set up Marner for a one-timer from the slot to pull the Maple Leafs within one at 3:39 of the third. It was Marner's 27th.
The Islanders responded 44 seconds later as Clutterbuck fired a shot past Samsonov's blocker to restore a two-goal lead. It was his second of the night and sixth of the season.
"We played pretty well, 200 feet, against a pretty good offensive team, " Clutterbuck said. "It goes to show if we can stick to the plan, be very disciplined in it, we can have success."
Dobson scored an empty-netter with 6:04 left for his 13th, and Lee redirected a shot from the point for his 27th less than three minutes later to cap the four-goal period.
Lafferty opened the scoring with a deflection in front with just under nine minutes left in the first.
"We are a resilient group," Dobson said. "Even when we go down one early, we know and trust our game. They got some high-end players, if you give them time and space, especially coming through the neutral zone, they can take advantage. I thought we did a good job defensively as a group of five staying above guys. Obviously, when we got our chances we did a great job capitalizing."
Sorokin kept the Islanders deficit at one goal with an incredible stick save with 7:22 left in the opening period, swatting Maple Leafs defenceman Erik Gustafsson's shot at a wide-open net out of the air with his stick.
WATCH l Islanders goalie reaches out with his stick to make incredible stop vs. Leafs:
Parise tied it 28 seconds into the second with a one-timer off a pass from Mayfield. Pageau also had an assist on the play to extend his point streak to four games.
Fasching wired a shot past Samsonov's glove with 6:10 left in the period after Toronto's Timothy Liljegren misplayed a clearing attempt in the defensive zone. It was Fasching's seventh goal in 39 games this season.
The Islanders extended their lead to 3-1 as Clutterbuck redirected Ryan Pulock's shot past Samsonov. It was Clutterbuck's first goal since returning to the lineup in mid-March after missing 20 games with an upper-body injury.
