Toronto Maple Leafs Hand Another Loss To New Jersey Devils 4-2

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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–       Ron Hainsey opened the scoring for the Maple Leafs at 4:30 of the first period. The goal is his fourth of the season. All four of Hainsey’s goals have come on the road in 2018-19.

–       John Tavares scored Toronto’s second goal of the game at 7:21 of the first period before scoring the third Maple Leafs goal of the game at 19:53 of the first period. He later added the lone assist on Mitch Marner’s empty net goal in the third period. Tavares’ first goal of the night was his 300th career NHL goal. Tonight’s game is his sixth multi-goal game of the season and his 14th multi-point game of the season. He has registered three or more points on four occasions in 2018-19.

–       Mitch Marner picked up the secondary assist on Tavares’ second goal of the night before scoring the fourth Toronto goal of the night into an empty net at 19:38 of the third period. Marner has 22 assists in 20 road games this season. He is tied for fourth in the NHL in road assists. He has three goals in four games during the month of January. Tonight’s game is his 19th multi-point game of the season.

–       Zach Hyman registered the primary assist on Hainsey’s first period goal. Tonight’s game is Hyman’s first since December 18 at New Jersey after missing the last eight games with an ankle injury. The Maple Leafs are 22-9-2 with Hyman in the lineup and 12-1-1 when he records a point.

–       Connor Brown picked up the secondary assist on Hainsey’s first period goal. Brown has registered eight of his 13 assists on the road this season. He has four assists and five points (1-4-5) in three games against the Devils in 2018-19.

–       Jake Gardiner had the lone assist on Tavares’ first goal of the night. Gardiner has registered 19 of his 22 assists at even-strength this season, which ranks fifth among NHL defencemen in even-strength assists.

–       Morgan Rielly recorded the primary assist on Tavares’ second goal of the game. Rielly has notched 25 points (8 goals, 17 assists) in 21 road games this season. He has four points (2-2-4) in three games against the Devils in 2018-19.

–       Michael Hutchinson stopped 27 shots to earn the victory.

SHOTS ON GOAL (5-on-5 in brackets)

 

1st

2nd

3rd

OT

TOTAL

TORONTO

15 (9)

13 (12)

15 (14)

43 (35)

NEW JERSEY

8 (6)

18 (15)

3 (3)

29 (24)

 

SHOT ATTEMPTS (5-on-5 in brackets)

 

 

1st

2nd

3rd

OT

TOTAL

TORONTO

18 (12)

25 (24)

26 (23)

69 (59)

NEW JERSEY

14 (11)

27 (23)

11 (9)

52 (43)

 

 

ON THE ROAD AGAIN 

–       The Maple Leafs are 15-5-1 on the road this season.

–       Toronto’s all-time record is 73-41-20-9 in 143 games against the Devils franchise and 26-24-15-5 in 70 games played on the road.

–       Toronto is 16-8-2 against the Eastern Conference this season and 10-4-0 against the Metropolitan Division.

MAPLE LEAFS LEADERS

Shots

6 (Tavares)

Shot Attempts

8 (Rielly)

Faceoff Wins

10 (Matthews)

Faceoff Win Percentage

100% (Brown, Marner, Nylander)

Hits

4 (Rielly)

Blocked Shots

2 (Gauthier, Matthews)

Takeaways

3 (Kapanen)

TOI

24:39 (Hainsey)

Power Play TOI

1:20 (Four players tied)

Shorthanded TOI

3:13 (Zaitsev)

Shifts

39 (Rielly)

5-on-5 Shot Attempt Percentage

70.3% (Zaitsev – 26 for, 11 against)

 

 

RECORD WHEN…

–       The Maple Leafs were 2-for-2 on the penalty kill and 0-for-1 on the power play tonight. Toronto is 18-5-1 when not allowing a power play goal this season and 15-9-2 when not scoring a power play goal.

–       Toronto is 22-2-1 when scoring the first goal of the game.

–       The Maple Leafs are 19-1-0 when leading after one period and 21-0-0 when leading after two periods.

–          Toronto is 11-7-0 when outshooting their opponent.

–          The Maple Leafs are 4-4-1 in Thursday games.

OF NOTE…

 

–          Toronto’s forwards Frederik Gauthier, and Par Lindholm were the lone Maple Leafs to not start a 5-on-5 shift in the offensive zone.

–          Jake Gardiner and Nikita Zaitsev were on the ice for a team-high in Toronto shot attempts-for at 5-on-5 (26). Gardiner had a 5-on-5 shot attempt percentage of 63.4 percent (26 for, 15 against), while Zaitsev had a team-high 5-on-5 shot attempt percentage of 70.3 percent (26 for, 11 against).

–          Nazem Kadri won 67 percent (4 won, 2 lost) of his faceoffs in the defensive zone.

–          William Nylander skated in his 200th career NHL game.

UPCOMING GAMES: 

–       Saturday, January 12, 7:00 p.m., vs. Boston Bruins (Hockey Night in Canada, TSN 1050)

–       Monday, January 14, 7:00 p.m., vs. Colorado Avalanche (TSN4, FAN 590)

–       Thursday, January 17, 7:30 p.m., at Tampa Bay Lightning (Sportsnet Ontario, FAN 590)

–       Friday, January 18, 7:00 p.m., vs. Florida Panthers (Sportsnet Ontario, TSN 1050)

–       Sunday, January 20, 7:00 p.m., vs. Arizona Coyotes (Sportsnet, TSN 1050) 

POSTGAME QUOTES:

HEAD COACH MIKE BABCOCK

On tonight’s win:

I really liked our first and I really liked our third. Obviously, in the second period we didn’t take care of the puck and didn’t play right. Bu, the third, I thought we came out and played really well, played in the offensive zone, took care of the puck, gave up very little and got a good win.

On Hyman’s return to the lineup:

Plus-four, he was involved in three goals there, heavy down low. It goes to show you need people to win the puck back and he was able to do that for us. It was good for Tavares, obviously 301 goals is a lot of goals in the National League. That line was good for us tonight.

On what he liked about the third period performance:

I liked that in the third period we didn’t back up and play in our own zone. We played the game in the offensive zone and we still had the puck, we took care of it. We didn’t give up much. I thought the first period was like that too, it was just the second period it got away from us.

On if the team has had a certain road mentality to earn 15 road wins this season:

I don’t know the answer to that. We think we’ve got a good team and we don’t think it much matters at home or on the road. We’ve had real good runs in both spots. Tonight was a good win for us, that’s all.

RON HAINSEY (1 GOAL)

On tonight’s win:

We had a real good start, we got the lead but then got into a bit of a track meet in the second period, which was not to our advantage. It wasn’t the worst period, we had plenty of chances in their end but coming off of that we didn’t do a good enough job with our defensive structure and, in turn, they were able to get some chances. We got lost in the D-zone once and totally blew a coverage and then they made a nice play on a cross and drop but the third period was really, really good after that. One of our better periods, I don’t think we gave up much and we generated a lot so the third was something to really be pleased with.

On Hyman’s contribution on his goal:

I think he was the one that dug it out and then both him and [Brown] were both in front so those guys do such great work in front of the net.  You’re not scoring from out there anymore. It’s obvious now that all these goalies are so good that you need those guys, but I think Zach dug it out, got it up top and made his way to the front. That’s just who he is as a player, does it for us game in and game out when he’s out there. We certainly missed him.

ZACH HYMAN (1 ASSIST)

On his first game back from injury:

It’s good to be back, I was excited to come back. It felt good in the first period, thought I had my legs and it was a good team win and happy we got it done.

On his linemates:

They’re awesome, obviously, just try to get them the puck as much as a I can. John [Tavares] is pretty tenacious on it. You can see how strong he is and gets the puck back all the time and he’s one of the best finishers around the net in the League, he can really score. Mitch [Marner] is an elite passer but he can also get himself open to shoot. I think you’re seeing more of that this year. Just really fun playing with those guys, I think we have a lot of chemistry and just building off of it so it was nice to come back and be with them.

JOHN TAVARES (2 GOALS, 1 ASSIST)

On scoring his 300th career goal:

Well it’s always that much more satisfying when it contributes in a big win, especially bouncing back after the other night. I think a credit to a lot of guys who I’ve played with over my career. Obviously, a big part of helping me be successful. Just trying to be consistent as long as I’ve been in the League and don’t want to stop there.

On Hyman’s impact tonight:

Yeah, I think all night you see his contributions on the penalty kill and certainly on the forecheck. Just so much trust in him winning battles and 50-50 pucks, how good he is at coming out of those and putting pressure on the opponent and he just makes things happen with that. So predictable that way, so consistent on a nightly basis. Definitely great to have him back and fortunate to be playing with him 

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