The Toronto Maple Leafs waltzed into Prudential Center on Tuesday night to face the New Jersey Devils. It was a tale of two struggles, as the Maple Leafs were 4-5-2 on the road, but the Devils were 7-6-2 at home. Ultimately, the Maple Leafs were the ones who came out victorious with a 2-1 overtime win. Anthony Stolarz stopped 37 of 38 (.974 save percentage), as Devils’ head coach Sheldon Keefe called Toronto’s goaltending “the best in the league” postgame. The Maple Leafs improved to 17-9-2 with the victory; the Devils fell to 18-10-3.
The Devils came out flying in the first, outshooting the Maple Leafs 15-1 in the early going. It was a breath of fresh air for a Devils team that had started some previous games very slowly, but they had nothing to show for it regardless. Despite holding an opponent to a one-shot period for the second time in over 12 years, they didn’t score in the frame.
Ondrej Palat finally broke through, as he put one past Stolarz to give the Devils the lead. Both teams traded a couple chances as the second went on, but nothing major. At the horn, the Devils still had a massive shot advantage, 25-6.
Halfway through the third period, the Devils nearly scored on the power play after a wild scramble. The Maple Leafs cleared it, and Pontus Holmberg raced down the ice and swatted it toward Jacob Markstrom, who got fooled as it went five-hole. The score remained locked at one as the third-period buzzer sounded, despite the Devils (38) having over triple the shots (12).
The Devils had a few glorious chances to start the extra session but couldn’t find twine. Then, Auston Matthews came the other way and scored on a partial break. His teammates mobbed him after they had successfully stolen two points in New Jersey.
CAP-TONE CALLED GAME!!!!! pic.twitter.com/NvWxeScqAz
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) December 11, 2024
The Maple Leafs will be back in action at home on Thursday evening to take on the Anaheim Ducks. The Devils will also be back in action on Thursday when they host the Los Angeles Kings.
