The New Jersey Devils (2-1-0) fell 4-2 to the Toronto Maple Leafs (1-1-0) in the 2024-2025 home opener. A slow start doomed New Jersey and head coach Sheldon Keefe, who faced off against his former team for the first time.
Game Summary
First Period
It was a sluggish start for New Jersey with Toronto getting six of the first seven shots on net. It was also the Maple Leafs that opened the scoring when Max Pacioretty buried a loose puck off a rebound nine minutes in.
The Devils nearly found an instant response, but Jesper Bratt rifled a shot off the crossbar. Then, Toronto doubled their advantage when a soft Bobby McMann wrister snuck through from the top of the circle, making it 2-0 Toronto.
New Jersey still couldn’t get on track when Steven Lorentz picked up a loose puck in the slot and tucked a backhander under the bar. The goal made it 3-0 Leafs with five minutes left in the frame.
However, the Devils did get the first power play of the game when John Tavares pulled down Erik Haula behind the play. The top unit of Dougie Hamilton, Jesper Bratt, Jack Hughes, Timo Meier, and Nico Hischier took the ice and forced Toronto netminder Dennis Hildeby into a handful of solid saves in his NHL debut.
Bratt eventually found the breakthrough, potting a wicked wrister off the post after Toronto failed to clear the puck with under a minute to go in the opening frame. The goal was Bratt’s first of the season and was unassisted.
After one, it was 3-1 Maple Leafs with shots at 11-9 in favor of Toronto. At five-on-five, the Devils posted a 50.00 Corsi-for percentage (CF%) and a 55.94 expected goals-for percentage (xGF%).
Second Period
Toronto had a chance to get the goal right back after Brenden Dillon was called for tripping three minutes into the second period. However, the New Jersey penalty kill, that was a perfect six-for-six in Prague, was excellent once again, holding Toronto without a shot on net.
New Jersey began to tilt the ice after the kill. Despite the pressure, though, the closest the Devils came to scoring was a Tomas Tatar deflection off the crossbar.
At the midway point of the period, Connor Timmins was called for interference, sending the Devils back to the power play. Dougie Hamilton and Timo Meier had some good looks, but could not light the lamp.
Just after the man advantage expired, Dawson Mercer was tripped. New Jersey was immediately back to the power play. Once again, though, they could not score, with Meier coming closest on a backdoor tip play.
The Maple Leafs immediately made the Devils regret the missed opportunity. With five minutes left in the period, John Tavares danced past Dawson Mercer and sniped the corner, making it 4-1 Toronto just 20 seconds after the power play expired.
It looked like it would remain 4-1 into the intermission, but after Simon Benoit snapped his stick on a one-timer attempt with 20 seconds left in the period, the Devils had one last rush. Ultimately, Jonathan Kovacevic found Timo Meier who let a slapper rip from the dot and squeezed it through Hildeby. Meier’s second of the year cut the deficit to 4-2 with just six seconds left in the frame.
Shots were 8-7 New Jersey in the second. The Devils managed a 61.54 CF%, but just a 32.15 xGF% at five-on-five.
Third Period
The Devils got another chance on the power play four minutes into the final period after Timo Meier finished a big check on Matthew Knies and Simon Benoit got called for a retaliatory roughing. Again, Meier and Hamilton had some good looks from the high slot, but couldn’t solve Hildeby.
Just after the kill, Toronto had a man advantage of its own after Dawson Mercer high-sticked Mitch Marner, but the Devils killed it off.
In the final ten minutes, New Jersey tilted the ice, trying to get back into it, but didn’t manage much. Jack Hughes drew one last power play with five minutes left, but the Devils created very little.
Sheldon Keefe pulled Jacob Markstrom with two minutes to go. Hildeby made another big time save on Dougie Hamilton, and the Maple Leafs melted away the final seconds, holding on for a 4-2 win.
Shots were 7-4 in favor of New Jersey in the third and 24-22 Devils overall. At five-on-five, the Devils posted a 56.25 CF% and 31.60 xGF% in the final period.
Wrap-Up
For the game, New Jersey registered a 55.91 CF%, but just a 42.04 xGF% at five-on-five.
Jacob Markstrom got the loss for New Jersey, stopping 18 of 22 shots faced. He allowed 1.67 goals above expected.
Meanwhile, 23-year-old Dennis Hildeby earned the win in his NHL debut. He turned aside 22 of 24 shots, stopping 0.65 goals above expected.
Game Notes
Casey-Nemec Pairing Struggles
It was another disappointing night for the Devils’ third pair in the loss. At five-on-five, Seamus Casey managed just a 15.98 xGF%, the lowest among all Devils’ skaters. Simon Nemec was not much better, posting a 26.02 xGF%.
Both were also below 50.00 in terms of CF% and were heavily out-chanced while on the ice. It is still early, but both Casey and Nemec are below a 33.00 xGF% for the season, the lowest on the team among skaters to play all three games. It might be time for Sheldon Keefe to consider tweaking his defensive pairs.
Tough Night For Third Line
New Jersey’s third line also failed to get going Thursday night. Stefan Noesen, Erik Haula, and Ondrej Palat played together for most of the night and registered disappointing possession metrics at five-on-five.
Noesen finished with a 23.55 xGF% while Haula had just a 21.62 xGF%. Palat was slightly better, but still only managed a 30.42 xGF%.
Difficulty Getting To Dangerous Areas
The biggest theme of the night for the New Jersey offense was an inability to test Dennis Hildeby in his NHL debut. Part of the issue was that the Devils struggled to get to the dangerous areas on the ice.
Across 45 minutes of even strength ice time, New Jersey created just five high-danger chances. The Devils averaged nine high-danger chances per game in the two games in Prague. This was despite some of the natural score effects that come with chasing a game as the Devils did on Thursday as opposed to protecting a late lead as was the case in Czechia.
Toronto does deserve a lot of credit for that as well. The Maple Leafs blocked 27 shots, stopping plenty of rubber from even reaching Hildeby.
What’s Next
The Devils travel to Washington to take on the Capitals on Saturday night in Washington’s opening game of the season. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 pm on MSGSN.
Note: All statistics via Natural Stat Trick.