Islanders Beat Leafs When the final horn sounded, the New York Islanders [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-islanders/game-day/new-york-islanders-toronto-maple-leafs-overtime-listen-watch] had come away victorious against the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-2. Following the final buzzer after the Leafs poured it on with the extra skater, Cal Clutterbuck [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-islanders/players/cal-clutterbuck-new-york-islanders-fasching-cizikas-lee-nelson-mayfield-lambert] skated over to his former captain, John Tavares [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-islanders/latest-news/john-tavares-new-york-rangers-1000-toronto-maple-leafs-paul-bissonnette], and gave him a cross-check in the back. Tavares turned around and said something to Clutterbuck before Scott Mayfield jumped in: This feels like the first time an Islanders player(s) went after Tavares the way Clutterbuck did post-horn. But it happened, and it ultimately made a statement. In their first game back from break, to give up the lead to Tavares late in the third and then win the game anyway -- I mean -- Islanders fans probably couldn't write a better script. Well, they would probably have included Tavares not scoring the tying goal. It was a huge win for the Islanders for so many reasons, from the defensive structure to Ilya Sorokin's performance and Pierre Engvall coming through late. It's all about progression and execution, and the Islanders, for most of the game, executed the gameplan. Now, it's a few days to fix some things ahead of their Thursday night battle against the Tampa Bay Lightning. TOP STORIES
