The New Jersey Devils (36-33-4) defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs (40-22-9) 6-3 in Toronto on Tuesday. The win was New Jersey’s second in a row, which kept the Devils within five points of the final playoff spot, although Washington has two games in hand.
Game Summary
First Period
Toronto opened the scoring before most of the late-arriving Scotiabank Arena crowd had settled into its seats. Tyler Bertuzzi got lost behind Brendan Smith and stashed a breakaway past Jake Allen just 1:04 into the contest.
It remained all Toronto after the goal with the Leafs recording the first six shots of the game. However, Luke Hughes silenced the crowd when he sniped the first New Jersey shot past Joseph Woll on the glove side. Hughes’ ninth goal of the season tied the game at one with 15 minutes left in the opening frame.
The Devils had a few good chances after the Hughes goal, but Woll settled in and turned them aside. Then, Toronto got right back on the front foot, firing shot after shot on Allen. However, Allen was locked in, denying them all, including one big time save on Auston Matthews from the slot.
It was New Jersey, though, that broke the tie when Jesper Bratt fed Nico Hischier on a two-on-one with two minutes left in the frame.
Moments later, Kevin Bahl took the game’s first penalty with 39 seconds left in the frame for roughing. The Devils killed off the remainder of the period, although Toronto had 1:21 left of carryover power play time.
After one, it was 2-1 Devils, but shots were a staggering 25-10 Toronto. At five-on-five, New Jersey posted just a 28.57 Corsi-for percentage (CF%) and a 27.57 expected goals-for percentage (xGF%).
Second Period
The middle frame began with New Jersey killing off the rest of the Bahl minor without much danger.
However, Toronto did find an equalizer after William Nylander potted his 40th of the year, beating Allen five-hole from the right circle.
Then, Auston Matthews broke the tie 1:37 later after receiving a long stretch pass from Ilya Lyubuskin, shielding off Simon Nemec, and ripping it past Allen short-side.
Timo Meier found a quick response, though, burying his 13th goal of March from the slot off a nice feed from Jesper Bratt with 14 minutes still to go in the period. It was Bratt’s third primary assist of the night.
Jack Hughes nearly gave the Devils the lead back moments later, but was running out of gas and couldn’t beat Woll on a partial breakaway. New Jersey, though, had its first power play of the night after Lyubushkin tripped Tomas Nosek on the ensuing shift.
New Jersey had nothing doing on the man advantage, but found the go-ahead goal shortly after. Max Willman buried a rebound from a Chris Tierney shot through traffic, making it 4-3 Devils with seven minutes left in the second.
Toronto had another chance on the power play with a minute left after John Marino hauled down Tyler Bertuzzi. However, just like in the first, the Devils got to the intermission unscathed, still holding a 4-3 lead.
In the second, shots were 10-10. New Jersey posted a 59.26 CF% and a 57.40 xGF% at five-on-five.
Third Period
The Devils successfully killed off the final 45 seconds of the Marino penalty to begin the final period.
Toronto’s surge began in earnest five or so minutes into the period, keeping New Jersey hemmed in for a long shift. Max Domi threw several pucks into the crease, but Jake Allen fought off each scramble in front of the net.
The Devils had a chance to get some separation with another power play chance with 13 minutes to go. They had nearly two full minutes of zone time with the top unit, but could not manage a shot on net.
With the Toronto pressure building, Jack Hughes broke up a pass and was sprung on a breakaway by Curtis Lazar. Hughes made no mistake, sliding a backhander through the five-hole to double the Devils’ lead with 3:13 to play.
Toronto could not get Woll to the bench until there was 1:30 to play, and Jack Hughes hit the empty net 20 seconds later after Curtis Lazar won a board battle to seal the victory.
In the third, shots were 10-5 in favor of Toronto. The Devils registered a 29.17 CF% and a 42.58 xGF% at five-on-five.
Wrap-Up
For the game, Toronto outshot New Jersey 45-25. The Devils managed just a 37.00 CF% and a 39.67 xGF% at five-on-five.
Jake Allen earned the win for the Devils, stopping 42 of 45 shots faced. He was tremendous, turning aside 0.98 goals above expected
Joseph Woll took the loss for Toronto. He allowed 2.59 goals above expected, stopping just 19 of 24 shots.
Game Notes
Big Night From The Top Line
The trio of Jesper Bratt, Nico Hischier, and Timo Meier were the only Devils’ forward line to finish with an xGF% north of 50% on Tuesday. In nearly 12 minutes of five-on-five ice time, this line posted a 54.78 xGF% and had a 3-1 edge in high-danger chances. This was especially impressive given the run of play dominance the Leafs enjoyed for much of the night.
On top of that, this trio did not just settle for a stat-sheet win; they converted their strong play into goals. While on the ice, New Jersey outscored Toronto 3-0. Hischier and Bratt each picked up three points with Meier adding two of his own.
Strong Performance From John Marino
Although the top line had a tremendous night offensively, it was John Marino that led the way in terms of xGF%. Marino registered a 58.16 xGF% in over 18 minutes of five-on-five ice time.
Similarly to the top forward line, New Jersey actually had more chances than Toronto with Marino on the ice. When Marino was over the boards, scoring chances were 11-11, but the Devils had a 9-5 edge in high-danger looks.
Tough Night For Smith-Nemec Pairing
It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows analytically for New Jersey. While those highlighted above managed to outchance Toronto, the same cannot be said for the Brendan Smith-Simon Nemec pairing.
In over 15 minutes of five-on-five ice time, Smith and Nemec both finished among the bottom five New Jersey skaters with a 30.84 and 32.16 xGF%, respectively. On top of that, Toronto had over 60% of the scoring chances and over 70% of the high-danger chances with this pair on the ice.
Smith and Nemec were also the pairing caught out on long stretch passes leading to the Tyler Bertuzzi and Auston Matthews goals. Luckily, the Devils did enough to win, but it was not the best night for Smith or Nemec.
What’s Next
The Devils wrap up a three-game road trip Friday night in Buffalo. Puck drop is slated for 7:00 pm ET on MSGSN.
Note: All statistics via Natural Stat Trick.