After an exciting win for the Devils on Sunday when they shutout the New York Islanders to start off their three-day road trip, they had another successful victory against the Maple Leafs on Tuesday. New Jersey defeated Toronto 6-3, and Jake Allen made a big 42 saves for the Devils. Luke Hughes scored his ninth goal of the season, Jack Hughes scored another two goals for the second time in the past four games, and Auston Matthews scored his 59th league-leading goal of the season. The Devils hope to end this road trip with three straight wins before returning back home to take on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Toronto unfortunately took their second straight loss, but will hopefully capitalize on the Washington Capitals on Thursday to avoid a three-game losing streak.
Devils lineup against the Maple Leafs:
Meier - Hischier - Bratt
Hughes - Haula - Holtz
Palat - Nosek - Mercer
Willman - Tierney - Lazar
Bahl - Marino
Hughes - DeSimone
Smith - Nemec
Allen
Kahkonen
Maple Leafs lineup against the Devils:
Bertuzzi - Matthews - Domi
McMann - Tavares - Nylander
Knies - Holmberg - Robertson
Dewar - Kampf - Gregor
McCabe - Liljegren
Brodie - Lyubushkin
Benoit - Timmins
Woll
Jones
Opening the scoring to take the 1-0 lead for Toronto - Tyler Bertuzzi scored his 16th goal of the season early into the first at 18:56. He scored on a breakaway after taking a stretch pass from Max Domi. Luke Hughes tied it 1-1 with an absolute beauty for his ninth goal of the season at 15:35. Hughes scored glove side, the shot going through Ilya Lyubushkin's legs after carrying the puck through the neutral zone and into the high slot. Later into the opening 20, Nico Hischier put the Devils ahead 2-1 to finish off the first period. He received a pass from Jesper Bratt during a 2-on-1 and then went on to beat Joseph Woll from the left circle blocker side. New Jersey had been outshot 25-10 in the first frame.
William Nylander made it even 2-2 at 16:46 of the middle frame for his 40th of the season and his sixth goal in the past seven games. Nylander skated into the right circle, beating Jake Allen five-hole. Putting the Maple Leafs back in front, Auston Matthews struck a beauty for his 59th league-leading goal of the season when he took a stretch pass from Ilya Lyubushkin and scored from the left circle short side after fending off Simon Nemec. At 14:25, Timo Meier made it a tie game once again when he finished a one-timer off a pass from Jesper Bratt, who skated around the back of the net. This was Meier's 13th goal in the past 14 games. Later on at 6:55, Max Willman scored his second of the season to put New Jersey back on top. Willman collected a loose puck to score from the top of the crease after Chris Tierney's shot had been blocked in the slot from the top of the right circle.
Late into the third at 3:14, Jack Hughes pushed it to 5-3 on a breakaway for his 25th goal of the season. Hughes struck the empty net with 1:09 left in regulation for his second of the night and for the 6-3 final. This had been Hughes' second two-goal game in the past four games.
Jack Hughes on the game, Jake Allen, and the way the team played: "Just a lot of blocked shots. They were all over us in the first and then obviously a lot of massive saves out of Jake, so he played another great game - I think lines are playing better, maybe harder, a few games together so a little bit of all that... Actually, we played okay, they just were on fire early. We were lucky to have a 2-1 lead, Jake had a really good period, and we kind of found our game as the game went on."
Auston Matthews on the Maple Leafs' loss, the way the team played, and the way the Devils played: "I thought we had a really good start honestly. Twenty-five shots in the first period, some good looks but we come out of there down one... We lack at times and they've got really speedy guys, skilled forwards that can make plays. The mistakes that we did make, they obviously can make plays on them," - "You just have to have that killer instinct a little bit more, especially when you have a good first period like that. You want to come out and stay on the hunt in the second, and I thought we kind of took a step back instead of a step forward."
Notes:
- Nico Hischier had a goal and two assists, and both Jesper Bratt and Curtis Lazar recorded three assists. Jake Allen made 42 saves for New Jersey, including 24 in the first period.
This was Bratt's sixth three-assist game of the season.
- Joseph Woll made a total of 19 saves for Toronto.
- Auston Matthews is one goal away from becoming the ninth player in NHL history to have multiple 60-goal seasons.
*All photos used by the New Jersey Devils used with permission*
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