Devils Left Looking for Answer in Toronto | GAME STORY

TORONTO, ON - The New Jersey Devils surrendered goals in each period on Tuesday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs and spent the evening trying to chase the game. Despite pushing in the third, they couldn’t muster the comeback they needed and on the first half of a back-to-back, with a stop in Columbus awaiting tomorrow, the Devils dropped a 4–0 decision to the Leafs.

"It’s very frustrating, we’re not scoring goals,” captain Nico Hischier said. “It’s no secret, if you’re not scoring goals, you cannot win hockey games, and it’s probably too much in our head right now, somehow we’ve just got to find a way to blind that out, and eventually it will go in, but it’s very, very frustrating right now.”

Bobby McMann scored a power play goal in the first for Toronto, Nicolas Roy added a goal in the second and Calle Jarnkrok scored the Leafs third goal, while Matthew Knies hit the empty net for the 4-0 lead.

“It’s not going our way, so we’ve got to stay with it," head coach Sheldon Keefe said. "We’ve got to keep the group positive, the group has got to keep believing, but guys have also got to work harder, work smarter and they’ve got to finish their chances.”

New Jersey failed to record a goal in a game for the fourth time this season.

In net, Jacob Markstrom was not met with any offensive support and little margin for error, and stopped 26 of 29 shots he faced.

Here are some observations from the game:

• Perhaps in an effort to spark his team, captain Nico Hischier provided a jolt of emotion midway through the third period. Following a faceoff with roughly 13 minutes remaining, Toronto’s Matthew Knies began shoving Hischier, and after the official reset the draw, Knies challenged him. Hischier obliged, dropping the gloves in a fiery exchange before the two were separated by the referees and play resumed.

"He’s asking me to go, and I don’t really want to back down, so I said yes," Hischier said. "Obviously, tried to give the team a little spark there, but that’s kind of what my thought process was.”

Both players were called for fighting majors, for Hischier, it was his second career fighting major, and first since Dec. 10, 2021, against Nashville’s Mikael Granlund.

"Do we need some guys to step up and show some emotion and show some balls and play with some urgency and competitiveness and step out of character? Yeah, we need more of that, to that end I like it," head coach Sheldon Keefe said of the moment in the third period. "I like that Nico did it and hopefully rubs off on the rest of the group in a positive way."

Unfortunately, in the moment the result was not what the Devils would have hoped for, with the Leafs finding a fortuitous bounce with a puck deflecting off of Jonas Siegenthaler and in behind Markstrom for the Leafs third goal of the night.

"You want to talk about gut checks, there's one," Keefe said. "The captain’s out there, taking on a big guy, he’s stepping up, out of character, we’ll see what we have with our group, but we need more guys that are going to show a little bit more. If you’re not going to score, give us a little bit more competitively, physically, and show that you’re working to find your way. There’s not enough of that. We’re just kind of going about our business.”

• After seeing the way the Leafs' first goal unfolded, Jacob Markstrom and Brenden Dillon spent much of the next TV timeout in a lengthy discussion. On the Bobby McMann goal, while the Devils were on the penalty kill, a failed clear resulted Leafs forward Nick Robertson stopping the puck at the blueline and able to find McMann who was skating through the high slot, as a result the Devils were caught in between coverage and in an attempt to block the incoming shot and get his stick on the play, Dillon went down to the ice, which appeared to screen Markstrom.

During the intermission, it looked as though the two were breaking down the play together, and I had to wonder, knowing good-guy Brenden Dillon, if he was apologizing for the screen.

• A little over halfway through the second period, while trying to create a screen in front of Joseph Woll, with the Devils in possession up high with the puck, Glass was caught in the face by the butt-end of Woll's stick, just as Brett Pesce was unleashing his shot. Glass was able to stay on the ice and was tended to briefly by the training staff on the bench but remained in the game. During the TV timeout, Pesce made sure to go up to his teammate and give him a tap on the back.

• The Leafs' second goal came just one second after Arseny Gritsyuk stepped out of the penalty box, thus registering as an even-strength goal. New Jersey's penalty kill went 1-for-3 against the Leafs. New Jersey had their chances on the power play, but came up empty on their three opportunities.

• The third period was partially played with just three officials after linesman Shandor Alphonso was caught in the face in the opening seconds of the third when a dump-in by Brett Pesce caught him up high. He lay on the ice, face down, and was tended to by a Leafs trainer. The trainer helped him off the ice as he exited the game. Alphonso returned with 13:46 to play in regulation to much applause from the crowd and stick taps from players.

• The Leafs were playing without two of their top forwards in Auston Matthews and William Nylander. They were also without defenseman Chris Tanev, as well as forward Dakota Joshua.