Holl, Dermott Drill First NHL Goals As Maple Leafs Blank Islanders

TORONTO (AP) — Justin Holl and Travis Dermott each scored their first NHL goal, helping the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the New York Islanders 5-0 on Wednesday night.

Holl made his NHL debut after being recalled from the minors earlier in the day.

Kasperi Kapanen, Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner also scored for the Maple Leafs (29-18-5), and Frederik Andersen made 28 saves for his fourth shutout of the season.

Thomas Greiss stopped 45 shots for the Islanders (25-22-5), who also lost 4-1 at home against Florida on Tuesday.

Toronto had three rookie defensemen in the lineup after scratching regulars Morgan Rielly (upper body), Roman Polak (viral infection) and Ron Hainsey (illness).

The 26-year-old Holl, with 239 minor league games under his belt, made his NHL debut alongside first-year skaters Andreas Borgman and Dermott. Defenseman Nikita Zaitsev returned to Toronto's lineup after missing 17 games with a foot injury.

The Maple Leafs scored twice in each of the first two periods.

Kapanen opened the scoring 5:37 into the game by jamming in a loose puck near the goal line.

Matthews doubled the lead when he picked up a Zach Hyman rebound in the slot and sent a wrist shot by Greiss at 13:39. Jake Gardiner started the play with a long outlet pass and picked up the other assist to extend his point streak to six games.

New York appeared to be gaining some traction before Marner skated into the slot and re-directed a Nazem Kadri pass to make it 3-0 at 10:32.

Islanders captain John Tavares had a great chance to put his team on the board on the power play, but he juggled the puck at the side of an open net before getting off a weak shot that Andersen had no trouble with despite being on his back.

Dermott finished off a pass from William Nylander with 1:01 to play in the second. Matthews skated right to the Islanders net to pick up the puck as a keepsake before celebrating with the 21-year-old defenseman.

Holl made it 5-0 with a wrist shot from an off angle that slipped through Greiss' legs at 3:42. This time it was Hyman who collected the puck for his teammate.

NOTES: Toronto F Matt Martin was a healthy scratch for a third straight game. ... Islanders F Andrew Ladd was activated from injured reserve and inserted into the lineup after missing nine games with an upper-body injury.

UP NEXT

Islanders: Host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night.

Maple Leafs: Visit the New York Rangers on Thursday night.

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