Home-opener against Ottawa

NEW YORK (AP) With the score tied late in the third period www.washingtonredskinsteamonline.com/d.j.-swearinger-jersey , Auston Matthews saw an opening and got himself in position. And when he got the puck from William Nylander, he was able to knock in the winning goal.Matthews deflected Nylander’s pass in front with just under four minutes remaining to lift the playoff-bound Toronto Maple Leafs to a 5-4 victory over the New York Islanders on Friday night.”Very good forecheck by (Zach) Hyman to free the puck up and I was able to sneak in there backdoor,” Matthews said. ”It was good for (Nylander) to see that play and make it, so great for both those guys to create space, get the puck and I just tapped it.”It was Matthews’ 31st goal of the season and broke the fourth tie of the game.”A good two points for us,” he said. ”Probably not a fun game for coaches but more a fun game for the players.”Mitch Marner and Nazem Kadri each had a goal and an assist, and Nikita Zaitsev and James van Riemsdyk also scored for Toronto. Frederik Andersen stopped 29 shots to help the Maple Leafs win for the eighth time in 10 games and extend a franchise record with their 47th win.Toronto, which clinched a postseason berth when Florida lost in overtime at Ottawa on Thursday night, is all but locked into third place in the Atlantic Division.”It’s nice that we’ve clinched and now we just want to get ready and focused for the playoffs,” Nylander said.Anthony Beauvillier had a goal and an assist Carolina Hurricanes Hoodies Womens , and Johnny Boychuk, Brock Nelson and John Tavares also scored for the Islanders, who lost for the 15th time in 18 games (3-11-4). Jordan Eberle had two assists and Christopher Gibson finished with 27 saves.”It was a good hockey game,” Islanders coach Doug Weight said. ”It was exciting and really, for a 5-4 game it was pretty well-played. … Yeah, a little bit of puck luck would be nice. It was a heck of a game. Guys battled but just fell short.”Van Riemsdyk gave the Maple Leafs their first lead of the game – at 4-3 – as he put in the rebound for his 36th at 2:01 of the third.Tavares tied it for the fourth time as he beat Andersen from the right doorstep for his 34th at 6:28. Tavares now has 80 points, reaching that number for the first time since he had 86 in 2014-15.”We didn’t want the puck in our net as much as it was tonight,” Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. ”That’s the way it went and we just had to find a way to keep grinding.”Trailing 2-1 after one period, the Maple Leafs tied the score at 7:52 of the second as Zaitsev’s pass deflected off Islanders forward Mathew Barzal’s stick and past Gibson for the defenseman’s fifth.Nelson put New York back in front on an odd-man rush as he got a pass across the slot from Andrew Ladd and beat Andersen from the right faceoff dot for his 19th with 9:15 left.Marner then tied it again as he deflected Jake Gardiner’s shot in front for his 22nd with 2:42 to go in the second.Beauvillier got the Islanders on the scoreboard with just under eight minutes remaining in the first. Eberle got the puck near the left side of the goal, skated to the corner and sent a pass in front to Beauvillier Carolina Hurricanes Hats Womens , who put it past Andersen for his 18th. The goal withstood a Maple Leafs challenge for goalie interference.Toronto tied it with 3:38 left, just 7 seconds after Anders Lee was whistled for slashing, as Kadri tipped the puck out of the air in front off a pass from Marner for his 31st.Boychuk put the Islanders back in front on a power play with 1:26 to go in the opening period as he got a pass from Beauvillier near the blue line and sent a one-timer through traffic past Andersen for his sixth.NOTES: Marner has five goals and 11 assists during his points streak. … Kadri has eight goals and nine points in his last 12 games. … The Maple Leafs swept the three-game season series. … Zaitsev’s goal marked the fourth straight game an Islanders player deflected the puck into his own net. Adam Pelech did it Saturday against the Blackhawks, and Brandon Davidson in each of the last two – against Florida on Monday and at Ottawa on Tuesday. … Lee had an assist on Tavares’ goal, giving him a career-high 22 this season. He also has career highs with 39 goals and 61 points.UP NEXTMaple Leafs: Host Winnipeg on Saturday night.Islanders: At New Jersey on Saturday night.—Follow Vin Cherwoo at twitter.com/VinCherwooAP— BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Brad Marchand was relieved in seeing how the Boston Bruins went from what the forward called “brutal” one night to much better the next.Marchand set up all four goals and Jaroslav Halak stopped 32 shots in a 4-0 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday, a day after Boston opened the season with an embarrassing 7-0 loss at Washington.“When you have a game like last night, it can definitely make you a little nervous about how things are going to go,” Marchand said. “But I think this just gave us the confidence that we know we can settle down and bounce back.”Captain Zdeno Chara and rookie Ryan Donato staked the Bruins to a 2-0 lead by the 15:34 mark of the first period. David Pastrnak scored in the second and Patrice Bergeron capped the victory with an empty-net goal with 12 seconds left.The new-look Sabres, featuring rookie No. 1 draft pick Rasmus Dahlin and Jack Eichel as captain Custom Carolina Hurricanes Jerseys , more resembled the team that finished last in the standings for the third time in five years. After receiving rousing cheers upon being introduced before the opening faceoff in their season opener, the Sabres were booed off the ice following the first and second periods.“Obviously, I think their fuse is a bit short for us, and rightfully so,” Eichel said, referring to fans’ impatience. “We haven’t played well the last few years. That’s on us to put a better product on the ice.”It’s been a familiar lament for the Sabres. Dating to last season, Buffalo has lost five straight overall and six in a row at home — including three shutout losses. The Sabres dropped to 0-5-1 in their past six season openers. They were shut out for the fourth time to open a season, and first since a 2-0 loss at Philadelphia in 2003.Buffalo failed to score despite playing much of the final five minutes with the goalie pulled for an extra attacker.Halak got the start a night after allowing two goals on 18 shots in replacing starter Tuukka Rask, who was yanked midway through the second period against Washington. The shutout was the 43rd of Halak’s career.“We all knew it just wasn’t good enough yesterday and we needed to come back tonight and bounce back, and that’s what we did Chicago Blackhawks Hoodies Womens ,” said Halak, who signed with Boston in July.Chara opened the scoring 6:33 in, when he was allowed to skate in alone up the left side and beat offseason free-agent addition Carter Hutton on the short side.Hutton finished with 22 saves and had no chance on Donato’s power-play goal nine minutes later. Donato was alone driving to the right post, where he redirected Marchand’s pass from the high slot.The 18-year-old Dahlin had an inconsistent night and at times looked hesitant in being matched with several defensive partners. He was on the ice for the Bruins’ third goal in allowing David Krejci’s pass through the crease go directly through his legs. The pass set up Pastrnak, who scored while being left alone at the left post.Dahlin finished second among Buffalo players with 22 minutes and 37 seconds of ice time, and was credited with two hits and one giveaway.“Yeah, it was a little bit faster,” Dahlin said of the game’s pace. “I learned how a regular-season game is. I’m just looking forward to the next game. We’ve got to do better.”NOTES: Boston improved to 5-2 in games after opening the season with a shutout loss. … The Sabres have only 10 players on the roster who played in Buffalo’s season opener last year, and just six from the 2016-17 opener. … At 18 years and 175 days, Dahlin is the second-youngest player to open a season in Buffalo Chicago Blackhawks Hats Womens , behind only 1987 No. 1 pick, Pierre Turgeon (18 years, 41 days). … Bruins RW Chris Wagner, who played 13:10 against Washington, was scratched and replaced in the lineup by LW Anders Bjork.UP NEXTBruins: Home-opener against Ottawa on Monday.Sabres: Continue four-game homestand against New York Rangers on Saturday.