3 takeaways from the Maple Leafs' 2-1 promising win over the Islanders

The Toronto Maple Leafs earned their first win of the season with a 2-1 victory over the New York Islanders. Colton Sissons and Easton Cowan scored for Toronto, while Anthony Stolarz stopped 26 of 27 shots.

While their chemistry isn't crisp as of yet, it was still a much better overall performance than last night, and certainly a step in the right direction.

Wednesday night was a step in the right direction for Maple Leafs

Last night, I wrote about how the Leafs will clearly need time to gel after dressing 10 new players for the season opener. While not everything is suddenly fixed after one game, it was a step in the right direction for the blue and white.

"We're trying to get this thing together as quickly as we can, but we all know it's going to take a little bit of time," head coach Jim Hiller said on Wednesday. "We want to shrink that time. I can't put a date on that, but everybody will get better tonight."

A positive takeaway from Tuesday night's loss was the flash and potential of the top two lines. On Wednesday, it was the third line of Colton Sissons, Nick Paul, and Easton Cowan that made their mark. Sissons opened the scoring at 7:14 of the first period, and the trio combined for five points and six shots.

Cowan scored his first of the season less than five minutes later on the power play. I know it wasn't 5-on-5 with his linemates, but he contributed nonetheless.

"I felt good. Our line was clicking," Cowan said. "As soon as you got all four lines going, everyone is laughing and having fun, which is good, and we were all working hard, so it was a great team win."

The progressing cohesion of this new-look squad will be a talking point until at least American Thanksgiving. However, through two games, we have seen encouraging signs from both the top and the bottom of this roster.

Toronto's special teams showed improvement

Why a power play loaded with talent looks so bizarre sometimes is a question we've been asking for a decade, and I have no doubt we will ask throughout the season. We certainly did yesterday. But if building chemistry is the current storyline, the special teams added to the plot on Wednesday. The Leafs went 1-for-4 on the power play and killed all four penalties.

With Darren Raddysh taking his spot on the first unit, Morgan Rielly quarterbacked the second and played a huge part in their lone goal on the man advantage. Coming off a rough season and a rumour-filled summer, any encouraging signs from Rielly are a plus.

The biggest blemish on the special teams was a shorthanded goal by Emil Heineman late in the third period to make it a one-score game. Other than that, it's a big thumbs-up from me.

Goaltending strategy goes according to plan after two games

Despite the loss, Sergei Bobrovsky was solid in his Maple Leafs debut last night. On Wednesday, Stolarz one-upped his former Florida teammate.

Stolarz made multiple big-time saves throughout the night, including an incredible right-pad stop against Anthony Duclair in the third to keep it a two-goal game.

"Probably a half scorpion-type save," Stolarz said. "He just kept dragging it and dragging it and you're just trying to do whatever it takes to make that save."

In my opinion, if Bobrovsky plays at the level the Leafs need him to, this is a perfect situation for Stolarz. He has never played more than 34 games in a single campaign, which will probably be around the number that will be expected of him this season, and it's a role that suits him. That's no disrespect to the 32-year-old netminder; it's just a reality.

If he can play like this in the second half of a back-to-back, and the other times he is called upon, it will be a huge piece of the Maple Leafs heading back to the playoffs.

Toronto will host provincial rivals on Saturday

The Leafs will continue their season-opening four-game home stand against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night. They will wrap it up against the Nashville Predators on Tuesday, before heading west for a three-game trip.

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