Nylander’s 4-point 2nd period leads Maple Leafs over Islanders

William Nylander had two goals and two assists as the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the slumping New York Islanders 5-2 on Monday night.

John Tavares, with a goal and an assist, Calle Jarnkrok and Auston Matthews also scored for Toronto (29-11-8), which got 31 saves — and a key setup — from Ilya Samsonov. Justin Holl added two assists.

Anders Lee had both goals for New York (23-21-5). Ilya Sorokin stopped 33 shots as the Islanders dropped to 1-6-3 over their last 10.

The Leafs, who lost 3-2 in overtime to the Islanders on the same ice on Nov. 21, then took their first lead 1:40 later when Nylander used a delicate flip pass to send Jarnkrok in alone to score his 11th.

Sorokin stopped a Michael Bunting penalty shot later in the period, but Nylander buried his second of the night and 26th overall at 16:32 after stealing the puck from Scott Mayfield in the offensive zone.

Matthews put things to bed with his 25th at 7:44 of the third on a breakaway off a Holl pass.

New York, which has dropped below the playoff cutline, opened the scoring with 22.2 seconds left in the first when Lee swatted home a loose puck in the crease for his 16th after Brock Nelson’s shot glanced off the Samsonov’s shoulder and hit the post.

The Toronto goaltender was sharp on a number of chances earlier in the period, including a terrific blocker stop at full stretch on Casey Cizikas.

Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe tweaked his top-6 forward group during the intermission, reuniting Tavares and Nylander, and slotting Mitch Marner alongside Matthews.

The impact was almost immediate.

Toronto tied it at 5:07 of the second when Nylander ripped his 25th off the rush after a nice play from Tavares, but Lee restored New York’s advantage 1:10 later on a one-timer that fooled Samsonov before the home side pushed back.

Samsonov on a run

The Russian made his third straight start and fourth straight appearance. Samsonov entered Monday with a 14-4-2 record and a .919 save percentage, while Matt Murray was 11-5-0 with a .911 save percentage as part of Toronto’s two-headed…