Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Matt Murray makes a save on a shot from New Jersey Devils forward Erik Haula in the first period at Scotiabank Arena on Nov. 17.Dan Hamilton/USA TODAY Sports via Reuters
If there was a team that was likely to end the New Jersey Devils winning streak, the Toronto Maple Leafs would have seemed like something of a safe bet heading into Thursday’s contest.
Maybe not so much based on this season’s standings, with the Devils leading the Metropolitan Division and looking down on Toronto from their perch as the second-best team in the Eastern Conference. But certainly based on recent head-to-head performance, with the Maple Leafs having won nine of the previous 10 meetings between the teams.
However, despite pushing the game to overtime thanks to William Nylander’s eighth goal of the season with 2:09 remaining, the Leafs came up short, falling 3-2 to Yegor Sharangovich’s winner, scored 57 seconds into the extra period.
“This is the best team in the NHL right now,” head coach Sheldon Keefe said after seeing New Jersey pick up an 11th consecutive victory. “Despite the fact that for me we didn’t play a great hockey game, we still get a point.”
Self-inflicted mistakes and giveaways were the differences between the teams, according to the Leafs head coach, who saw his team’s three-game winning streak come to an end. The team gets a first chance to bounce back Saturday at home against the Buffalo Sabres.
However, despite the loss, Keefe has seen his team pick up at least a point in eight of its last nine games, a pace that keeps it second in the Atlantic Division, just ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning albeit eight points back of runaway Eastern Conference leaders, the Boston Bruins.
Auston Matthews, who scored his eighth goal of the season on a first-period power play to put the home side in front, was at a loss for how the game played out, particularly in a somewhat lacklustre third period. Trailing 2-1, the Leafs generated 12 shots over the final 20 minutes, but few were particularly troubling for New Jersey goaltender Vitek Vanecek. The Devils netminder ultimately made 25 saves.
“It was a weird game to be honest,” Matthews said. “I thought especially in the third period when we were trying to push back and get a tying goal we couldn’t get much going. Obviously a big goal there to send it to overtime, but just a weird game.”
The one bright spot was likely goaltender Matt Murray, who made 30 saves in his second straight start since returning from injury. Fresh off his first win as a Maple Leaf on Tuesday in Pittsburgh, he kept his team in the game, most notably late in the second period with a lunging blocker save on Jack Hughes.
While the netminder would obviously have liked to concede fewer than three goals, Keefe refused to apportion him any blame, saying he was “a big reason why we got a point tonight.”
In the visiting dressing room, the Devils’ 11th straight victory – tying the second-longest run in franchise history – allows the club’s transition back to contending status to continue at pace.
While it’s certainly true that these aren’t your grandfather’s New Jersey Devils any more – Wayne Gretzky is too busy shilling for online betting firms to call anyone Mickey Mouse these days – they’re also pretty far removed from the days of Scott Stevens and Ken Daneyko.
So for the current crop of Devils – the majority of whom were born after New Jersey stifled its way to the first of three Stanley Cups in 1995 – the neutral zone trap is likely as much of a going concern as the Flying V of Mighty Ducks movie lore.
Having drafted Nico Hischier and Hughes first overall in 2017 and 2019 respectively, the development of the next generation of Devils stars might not have been as rapid as New Jersey was likely hoping, but as Edmonton, Buffalo and other NHL fan bases can testify, rebuilds rarely go in a straight line.
But things are trending up for the Devils, with the team currently sitting second in the Eastern Conference thanks to its longest winning streak since a 13-game run set in 2001, the year it went on push the Colorado Avalanche to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final.
“We’re a good team,” said captain Nico Hischier, who put his team in front with his ninth goal of the year in the second period. “We’re a really good team and we believe in each other here and we’re playing some really good hockey and it’s not going to be easy playing against us.”