Devils Gameday Preview: Road Trip Begins Against Maple Leafs

The New Jersey Devils will travel to Toronto to kick off a two-game road trip against the Maple Leafs on Sunday, Nov. 8. Both teams will enter the matchup facing the challenge of playing the second half of a back-to-back. The Devils come into the contest riding a four-game winning streak after earning a hard-fought overtime victory over the New York Islanders on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the Maple Leafs will be looking to get back on track after dropping their second consecutive game. Toronto suffered a 4-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night, extending their losing streak to two games.

Storylines

One of the biggest ongoing storylines for the Devils remains their continued effort to improve their special teams. New Jersey has shown signs of progress on the power play, with Dougie Hamilton delivering a crucial goal on the man advantage to tie Saturday night’s game against the New York Islanders. However, despite the timely conversion, the Devils were unable to capitalize on their three other power-play opportunities, leaving room for improvement.

The power play has certainly started trending in the right direction, but New Jersey still has work to do before it can become a consistent strength. The Devils currently sit in the bottom half of the league with an 18.5% conversion rate, a number they will need to improve if they want to establish themselves as a more complete and difficult team to play against. While their recent success speaks for itself, winning 10 of their last 12 games, tightening up their special teams will be the next step in taking their game to another level.

Depth scoring has been one of the more encouraging developments for the Devils this season. In recent campaigns, New Jersey has struggled to generate consistent production beyond its top six, often relying heavily on its star players to create offense. This season, however, that narrative has started to change, with contributions coming from throughout the lineup.

Connor Brown has been particularly impactful since returning from injury after missing the start of the season. He has quickly worked his way into a larger role, earning a spot on the first power-play unit. Over his last five games, Brown has recorded three goals and an assist, finding ways to contribute in all situations with a power-play goal, a shorthanded goal and an even-strength tally. His versatility and ability to produce in different situations have added another dimension to New Jersey’s offense.

The line of Anthony Mantha, Jesper Boqvist and Evan Rodrigues has also been a major contributor. The trio has combined for eight points over its last five games, with each forward stepping up to score timely goals and provide valuable offensive production. Their chemistry continues to develop, and their ability to complement one another has given the Devils another reliable scoring option outside their top two lines.

Most importantly, New Jersey is beginning to establish the kind of production that can make a significant difference over the course of a long season. Having multiple lines capable of generating offense takes pressure off the top players, makes the Devils more difficult to defend and gives them the depth necessary to compete against stronger opponents. If this level of secondary scoring continues, it could become one of the team’s biggest advantages moving forward.

Team Stats

New Jersey Devils

Season Record: 12-5-0

Top Scorers:

• Jack Hughes: 9 goals (G), 14 assists (A), 23 points (P)
• Jesper Bratt: 3 G, 13 A, 16 P
• Arseny Gritsyuk: 8 G, 5 P, 13 P
• Nico Hischier: 7 G, 4 A, 11 P
• Luke Hughes: 6 G, 5 A, 11 P

Goalie Stats:

• Connor Hellebuyck: 4-0-0, 2.44 goals-against average (GAA), .891 save percentage (SV%)
• Jake Allen: 6-3-0, 3.20 GAA, .881 SV%

Toronto Maple Leafs

Season Record: 8-8-2

Top Scorers: 

• Auston Matthews: 11 G, 16 A, 27 P
• William Nylander: 11 G, 11 A, 22 P
• Jack Roslovic: 8 G, 10 A, 18 P
• Kirill Marchenko: 6 G, 8 A, 14 P
• Easton Cowan: 6 G, 8 A, 14 P

Goalie Stats: 

• Sergei Bobrovsky: 3-7-2, 3.34 GAA, .886 SV%
• Anthony Stolarz: 5-1-0. 2.66 GAA, .910 SV%

Projected Lineup

(Subject to change before puck drop)

New Jersey Devils

Arseny Gritsyuk — Jack Hughes — Jesper Bratt

Timo Meier — Nico Hischier — Luke Evangelista

Anthony Mantha — Evan Rodrigues — Jesper Boqvist

Amadeus Lombardi — Cody Glass — Connor Brown

Luke Hughes — Brett Pesce

Jonas Siegenthaler — Dougie Hamilton

Declan Chisholm — Johnathan Kovacevic

Connor Hellebuyck

Jake Allen 

Scratched: Brenden Dillon

Injured: Seamus Casey

Toronto Maple Leafs

Easton Cowan — Auston Matthews — Jack Roslovic

John Tavares — Nick Paul — William Nylander

Dakota Joshua — Colton Sissons — Gavin McKenna

Brandon Duhaime — Teddy Blueger — Zack MacEwen

Oliver Ekman-Larsson — Chris Tanev

Jake McCabe — Darren Raddysh

Cole McWard — Troy Stecher

Anthony Stolarz

Sergei Bobrovsky 

Scratched: Dakota Mermis

Injured: Morgan Rielly, Max Domi, Kirill Marchenko, Marshall Rifai, Nick Blankenburg

Next Up for the Devils

The Devils will wrap up their two-game road trip against the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday, Nov. 10. Puck drop is set for 7 P.M. ET in what will be Hellebuyck’s first return to his former team since his trade to New Jersey.