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Toronto Maple Leafs left wing Pierre Engvall, right, celebrates his goal with teammate Alexander Kerfoot during the second period against the New York Islanders, in Toronto on April 17.Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press

The Maple Leafs set a franchise record with their 50th victory of the season on Sunday night.

The 4-2 triumph over the New York Islanders at Scotiabank Arena also gave them a club-record 106 points, eclipsing the mark of 105 set during the 2017-18 campaign.

“It is pretty cool,” forward Alexander Kerfoot said. The team has been in business now for 105 years. “This organization has been around a long time. It speaks to the hard work we have put in.

“It’s a long season and a grind and we have bigger things to be a part of.”

The achievement was accomplished without the assistance of Toronto star Auston Matthews, who sat out the Easter game after sustaining a minor injury during Saturday’s 5-4 overtime win over the Senators in Ottawa.

Head coach Sheldon Keefe did not disclose the nature of the problem but said Matthews is “day to day.”

He leads the team with 58 goals and 102 points and will have to wait until at least Tuesday in his attempt to become the first Maple Leaf to reach 60 goals. It would also make him the first U.S.-born player to do it.

Finishing a forgettable season, the Philadelphia Flyers are next up on Toronto’s schedule. At this point, only a half-dozen games remain in the regular season. The first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs begins on May 2.

Toronto has not won a post-season series since 2004.

“I don’t know that this means a lot, especially where we need to get to when it means the most,” Keefe said of the 50 victories and the points record. “This team has done some really good things and has good things ahead.

“We just need to continue on.”

The Maple Leafs are second in the NHL’s Atlantic Division, eight points behind the Florida Panthers. If the standings remain the same Toronto will have the home-ice advantage in the opening round against the defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning.

“I think we are in a good place, particularly with the results we have had against teams we may see in the playoffs,” Keefe said. Toronto beat the Lightning in Tampa Bay rather easily the week before last. “Certainly, our confidence should be in a great place right now.”

William Nylander broke a 2-2 tie with 6:40 left in the second period to record the game-winner. The power-play marker ended an 0-for-17 drought for the Maple Leafs with a man advantage.

It was Nylander’s 31st goal and 73rd point. Both are career highs.

Toronto trailed 1-0 and 2-1 in the last of three engagements between the Eastern Conference opponents. Toronto swept all three in what has been a disappointing voyage to nowhere for the Islanders.

They are 35-31-9, fifth in the Metropolitan Division and will miss the post-season after reaching the Eastern Conference final in each of the past two years. They began the season with 13 successive road games because their new arena was not quite finished, went on to win only five of their first 17 outings and have never close to catching up.

They were officially eliminated with Sunday’s defeat.

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A moment of silence was held before the game to remember Mike Bossy, the Islanders’ Hall of Famer who died of cancer on Friday at age 65. A presentation was also made to honour linesman Scott Cherrey, who was calling Game No. 1,000 in the NHL.

Toronto rallied from 2-0 and 3-2 disadvantages and won on a goal in extra time on Saturday by veteran defenceman Mark Giordano. The latter was acquired at the trade deadline from the Seattle Kraken.

“He’s a huge part of our team,” Michael Bunting, who had a goal and an assist on both Saturday and Sunday, said. “He came in and he had that veteran presence right away. He was captain for a very long time in Calgary and a captain in Seattle and he carries [himself] like that. He’s a great guy off the ice and he’s playing unbelievable for us right now.”

Toronto improved to 50-20-6 and is 10-1-1 over its past dozen games. The Panthers, meanwhile, have won 10 in a row to maintain a secure hold on the division lead.

The Islanders got on the board first when Anthony Beauvillier snapped a wrist shot past Jack Campbell with 7:21 left in the first period. Campbell, who was 4-1 in his previous five starts, was screened by Toronto defenceman Ilya Lyubushkin.

Mitch Marner replied with 2:21 before the teams went to their dressing rooms for the first intermission. It was Marner’s career-high 34th goal and 94th point of the 2021-2022 campaign, equalling his high established three years ago.

Campbell had 27 saves as he improved to 29-9-5 on the campaign. It spoiled a spectacular performance by his counterpart, Ilya Sorokin, in New York’s net. Sorokin, who came in third in the league with a 2.29 goals-against average and second with a .928 save percentage, had 33 saves.

On Friday, he had tied a franchise record with his seventh shutout of the season. He is the third goaltender in Islanders history to record seven in a campaign, joining Glenn (Chico) Resch in 1975-76 and teammate Semyon Varlamov in 2020-21.

Toronto fell behind 2-1 early in the second period when Alexander Kerfoot accidentally scored an own goal as he tried to clear a puck out of the crease.

Instead he poked it and it ricocheted off something or someone – he wasn’t sure – past Campbell.

“It was a bad play on my part,” Kerfoot said. “You can’t do much about it once it is done.”

Afterward, Kerfoot, a Harvard graduate, apologized to Campbell.

“I told him that I was sorry,” Kerfoot said. “When you put a puck in your own net it is not a good feeling.”

Pierre Engvall then tied it at 2-2 off a slick pass from Kerfoot with 9:11 remaining in the second.

Nylander put Toronto ahead for good and then David Kampf scored on an empty netter with nine seconds on the clock. Nylander got an assist, for his 74th point of the season.

Toronto already has put together its best regular season in history. It last won a Stanley Cup in 1967.

Its success this year will not matter once the playoffs begin.

“We are trying to climb up the leader board and be ready for whatever comes,” Marner said.

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