Schaefer scores 2nd goal of game in OT to give Islanders 4-3 win over Maple Leafs

NEW YORK (AP) — Matthew Schaefer scored twice, including at 4:11 of overtime, and the New York Islanders beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 on Saturday night.

Adam Pelech and Emil Heineman also scored, and Jonathan Drouin and Mathew Barzal each had two assists for the Islanders, who won for the second time in three games. David Rittich had 18 saves in his seventh straight start, with Ilya Sorokin dressing as the backup for the first time since Dec. 19.

Auston Matthews had two goals for the Maple leafs, setting the franchise career record with 421. Nicholas Robertson also scored and Joseph Woll finished with 21 saves.

In the extra period, Barzal found Schaefer all alone in the high slot and the 18-year-old rookie defenseman wired a shot past Woll for the win.

Matthews scored twice in the second period to move past Hall-of-Famer Mats Sundin for the franchise mark. His first tied Sundin at 420 when he beat Rittich at 9:30. He broke the record with his 20th of the season with 2:41 left in the period on a one-timer to give Toronto a 2-1 lead.

After Schaefer tied the score with 8:50 left in the third, Nicholas Roy set up Robertson for a go-ahead goal 1:02 later after a turnover by Heineman in the Islanders’ defensive zone.

The Swedish forward redeemed himself with the tying goal on a power play with 2:45 remaining in regulation, scoring on a one-timer off a feed from Barzal.

Pelech opened the scoring for the Islanders at 1:10 of the second period.

With the milestone, Matthews became the first United States-born player to lead a Canadian franchise in career goals and joined Mike Modano as one of the only U.S.-born players to hold a franchise goal-scoring record with a minimum of 50 goals.

Maple Leafs: Host Florida on Tuesday night.

Islanders: Host New Jersey on Tuesday night.

AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/NHL

New York Islanders' Emil Heineman and Matthew Schaefer (48) hold back Toronto Maple Leafs' Jake McCabe, center, during a fight in the first period of an NHL hockey game, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

New York Islanders center Mathew Barzal, top, shoots the puck past Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Jake McCabe during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, in Elmont, N.Y. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews (34), left, high-fives teammates after scoring during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the New York Islanders, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, in Elmont, N.Y. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

New York Islanders' Matthew Schaefer, left, and teammate Emil Heineman (51) celebrate Schaefer's goal in the overtime period of an NHL hockey game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

New York Islanders' Matthew Schaefer celebrates after his goal in the overtime period of an NHL hockey game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, in Elmont, N.Y. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

You might be inclined to think of freestyle skiing as one of the new kids on the block at the Winter Olympics — after all, there are lot of young athletes doing it — but some of the freeskiiing sports were introduced at the Calgary Games some 38 years ago.

Four decades of familiarity with moguls, the halfpipe, big air and more have turned some of these daring athletes into household names and their tricks have gotten more and more creative.

The three most popular disciplines in this sport fall under the category of “freeskiing” — halfpipe, slopestyle and big air. Those are judged contests in which skiers are graded on how high they fly and the difficulty of their tricks. In moguls, skiers are scored on their form through the bumps and two jumps along with their overall speed. In aerials, which shares some similarities with big air, skiers flip and twist as soar more than 40 feet (12 meters) into the air. There's also skicross, a set of side-by-side elimination showdowns that closes with a four-person race for the medals.

Eileen Gu is the star of this sport. She grew up in San Francisco but competes for her mother's native country of China. Four years ago, she became the first action-sports athlete to win three medals at one Olympics — gold in halfpipe and big air and silver in slopestyle. Canada's Mikael Kingsbury is generally viewed as the best moguls skier of all time. He had 99 World Cup wins heading into this season, along with a gold and two silver medals at the Olympics. American Alex Hall, who considers himself as much of an artist as an athlete on the slopes, looks to defend his title in slopestyle.

The venues are in Livigno, a three-hour drive northeast of Milan. Some of the key dates include big air Feb. 14-17, halfpipe Feb. 19-21 and skicross Feb. 20-21.

Halfpipe freeskiing debuted in 2014, shortly after its foremost pioneer, Sarah Burke, died in a training accident. She had lobbied to get freeskiing into the Olympics. On a magical night in Russia, Burke's parents were in the stands to watch the contest, which ended with the maintenance crew paying tribute to her by skiing down the halfpipe in the shape of a heart. In 2022, Gu capped off her third medal of the Beijing Games — a gold — with a joy-filled “victory lap” down the halfpipe after she had already secured the victory.

Slopestyle courses double as works of art; at the Olympics, it gives course builders a chance incorporate elements of their country into the Olympic playing field. In Russia, skiers had the option of jumping over a giant Russian nesting doll. In Beijing, the course was lined with a replica of the Great Wall, complete with a guard house (the “shred shed”) built as an option on the rails course. It's a secretive process, and as of now, what visual treats will line the course at Livigno Snow Park remain a mystery.

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

FILE - Olympic hopeful U.S. freestyle skier, Alex Hall, poses for a photo at Team USA Media Summit, on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File)

FILE - In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Gold medalist Eileen Gu Ailing of China poses during the awards ceremony for the women's halfpipe finals at FIS Freeski World Cup 2025 in Zhangjiakou, north China's Hebei Province, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (Luo Yuan/Xinhua via AP, File)

FILE - Canada's Mikael Kingsbury competes in the men's moguls at the Freestyle World Championships in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (Gian Ehrenzeller/Keystone via AP, File)