Beat reporter Stefen Rosner contributed to this story
TORONTO -- The New York Islanders (0-1-0) got their season off on the wrong footing, falling 2-1 to the Toronto Maple Leafs (1-1-0) on Wednesday night inside Scotiabank Arena
Their power play went 0-for-4, including two opportunities in the third period, while the penalty kill went 3-for-4, with a third-period shorthanded goal from Emil Heineman. Ilya Sorokin made 24 saves in the defeat.
The game began with a flurry of chances for the Islanders. New York started hot against the Leafs, who had played the night before, starting their season with a back-to-back.
But, despite the early chances, Toronto struck first with a Colton Sissons redirection.
That was just the Leafs second shot of the game, with the opportunity coming off a Tony DeAngelo turnover.
Then, at 11:55 of the second period, the Maple Leafs doubled their lead when Easton Cowan buried a rebound on the power play to make it a 2-0 game:
The lack of rebound support for Sorokin there is a big problem, and is an area of concern that Islanders' Head Coach Peter DeBoer called out during the preseason as an issue
During that period, Anthony Duclair got bumped up to the second line, with Pete DeBoer sending former Leafs forward Matias Maccelli to the fourth line.
DeBoer jumbled more lines later, reuniting Heineman with Bo Horvat to no avail.
The Islanders' offense came up short, peppering 27 shots but scoring just once on a shorthanded jailbreak from Horvat and Heineman.
Up next for the Islanders: The Islanders host the New Jersey Devils on Saturday at 7:30 PM ET for their home opener.
