Devils Put Their Streak On The Line Against A Solid Toronto Team

The Devils Looks to Beat the Maple Leafs for the first time since 2018. (Image via. covers.com)

Overview

Tonight, the New Jersey Devils will look to tie the second-longest winning streak in franchise history, as they seek their 11th-straight win against the Toronto Maple Leafs. However, it won’t be easy against a very good Leafs squad. Though, the Leafs have had to fight through injuries to both of their goalies as well as two of their top defenseman in Jake Muzzin and TJ Brodie.

The Devils hold a record of 13-3-0 and are in first place in the Metropolitan Division. The Maple Leafs are 9-5-3 and sit in second place in the Atlantic Division.

Lines and Pairings

Devils

Forwards:

Tatar-Hischier-Zetterlund

Hughes-Haula-Mercer

Sharangovich-Boqvist-Bratt

Wood-McLeod-Bastian

Defense:

Siegenthaler-Hamilton

Graves-Marino

Smith-Severson

Goalies:

Vanecek

Schmid

Maple Leafs

Forwards:

Bunting-Matthews-Nylander

Kerfoot-Tavares-Marner

Engvall-Holmberg-Jarnkrok

Aston-Reese-Kampf-Malgin

Defense:

Rielly-Benn

Giordano-Holl

Sandin-Liljegren

Goalies:

Murray

Kallgren

Keys to the Game

Jack Hughes Burning Media and Players On The Ice

Although the team has only been on the road for a few days now, it’s already been an eventful road trip for Jack Hughes. The fourth-year forward had a humorous comeback to a member of the Canadian media who asked about the Devils needing to play more consistently. Jack replied saying, “We’re on a nine-game heater, I’d say we’re doing ok.” 

Hughes would stay true to his statement as his two goal, three-point outing helped lead the team to their 10th-consecutive win. He leads the team on the winning streak with 15 points in those 10 games.

Toronto’s Goaltending Woes

After playing just two games to start the season, Maple Leafs’ starting goaltender Matt Murray went down with a groin injury. Just a couple weeks later, Ilya Samsonov, who had been playing fantastic in Murray’s absence, left a game against Boston with a knee injury. That game was just under two weeks ago, and since Samsonov went down, the goaltending duties have fallen on the shoulders of 26 year old rookie Erik Kallgren.

Since the injury, Kallgren has collected a mediocre .907 save percentage, however, the Leafs collected a respectable 2-1-1 record during that span. 

Matt Murray returned from injury against his former team, the Pittsburgh Penguins, on Tuesday which could be the end of the interesting story that is Erik Kallgren. Leafs fans should be appreciative of what Kallgren was able to do in his time in the spotlight though. Holding down the fort against teams just as Boston, Carolina, and Vegas are certainly not easy tasks.

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