TORONTO (AP) — Nico Hischier had a goal and two assists, Jake Allen made 42 saves and the New Jersey Devils beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-3 on Tuesday night.
“Our goalie played phenomenal in the first,” New Jersey interim coach Travis Green said. “The speed and the skill of their team … took us a little while to catch up.”
The Maple Leafs built a 25-10 advantage in shots on goal in the first period, but trailed 2-1. Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe was not happy as the Devils capitalized on the Leafs' errors.
“Instead of having a strong (second) period and building on it and continuing to do the things that we had done well, I thought we just overdid it,” Keefe said. “Really immature all the way through our game.
“It was immature from our most experienced players and our leaders, and then our players who are immature — our inexperienced guys — made lots of mistakes.”
Jack Hughes scored twice, including into the empty net, and Timo Meier added a goal and an assist for the Devils, who have won four of their last five games. Luke Hughes and Max Willman also scored for New Jersey. Jesper Bratt added three assists and Curtis Lazar had two.
Auston Matthews scored his NHL-leading 59th goal. William Nylander and Tyler Bertuzzi also scored and Joseph Woll had 19 saves for Toronto. T.J. Brodie had two assists.
“I don’t think that’s stuff you want to see in your game at this point in the year,” Matthews said of his group’s sloppy showing. “We’ve got to make sure we’re dialed in for a full 60 minutes.”
The Maple Leafs are third in the Atlantic Division with the postseason less than a month away. New Jersey entered Tuesday's game five points out of the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card berth.
“It is rattling,” Nylander said. “We’re capable of a lot better.”
Toronto was missing injured forward Mitch Marner (high ankle sprain) and goaltender Ilya Samsonov (undisclosed), along with defensemen Morgan Rielly (upper-body injury) and Joel Edmundson (undisclosed).
The Maple Leafs scored with their first shot on target in the second when Nylander capitalized off the rush at 3:14. The goal gave him consecutive 40-goal seasons.
Matthews scored his 59th on a break at 4:51, but the Devils tied it 46 seconds later when Meier scored his 24th.
Willman picked up just his second goal of the season, pouncing on a loose puck with Woll down at 13:05 for a 4-3 lead through two periods.
Jack Hughes got loose on a breakaway and beat Woll for his 25th with 3:13 left in regulation. He then scored into an empty net to seal the win.
The Maple Leafs opened the scoring 64 seconds into the first when Bertuzzi beat Allen with a move to the forehand for his 16th.
The Devils got that one back at 4:25 when Luke Hughes fired a shot that sailed past Woll’s glove for the rookie defenseman’s ninth.
UP NEXT
Devils: At Buffalo Sabres on Friday.
Maple Leafs: Host Washington Capitals on Thursday.
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AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL
The Associated Press
