Nylander lifts Maple Leafs past Devils in overtime

TORONTO -- William Nylander scored with three seconds left in overtime to give the Toronto Maple Leafs a 1-0 win against the New Jersey Devils at Air Canada Centre on Thursday.

"I just knew when we got out there, there was a minute left and we'd been out there for a little bit," Nylander said. "I didn't know how much time was left when I scored but I was pretty tired, it went back and forth there a few times. I was low energy. Luckily the puck]*
"It's fun I think for a goalie," Andersen said. "It doesn't really change anything, the score of the game but obviously you enjoy a good goalie battle, especially when you come out on top. I think they had a couple looks on the power play and [in] overtime they had some chances but outside of that, I don't think we really gave up too much."
Cory Schneider made 24 saves for the Devils (11-4-3), who had won two in a row.
"I thought we defended the neutral zone really well," Schneider said. "We really didn't give them a lot of time and space to get going. I thought we played well. It stinks to lose and only get one point after you have an effort like that."

Devils forward Kyle Palmieri said it was probably one of the more solid games New Jersey has had at both ends. "If we do that, more often than not, we're going to come out on top," he said.
Nylander, who scored for the first time in 12 games, got the puck in the corner, skated into the slot and, using Palmieri as a screen, put a wrist shot by Schneider. His last goal was on Oct 21 in a 6-3 loss to the Ottawa Senators. He had four assists in the 11 games that followed.
When asked if he thought the slump was weighing on the 21-year-old Nylander, Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said, "Oh 100 percent, for sure. Now, obviously, Willie can loosen up and get playing. When you haven't scored in a while, as a young guy, you get thinking too much instead of just playing and working. They want to score and they want to score every night and if you're a point-getter, you think you should be doing it every night. You're not used to it. The NHL sends you for long stretches [without scoring], every other league you played in never ever sent you for stretches like that."

Toronto defenseman Jake Gardiner was called for interference on New Jersey center Nico Hischier 42 seconds into overtime, but the Devils couldn't capitalize on the power play.
"That was huge, 4-on-3 in OT, the [penalty kill] came up big there," Nylander said. "I think they were good the entire night too so that was a huge factor in the game."
New Jersey was 0-for-3 on the power play; Toronto was 0-for-2.

Goal of the game

Nylander's goal at 4:57 of overtime.

Save of the game

Andersen's blocker save on Taylor Hall at 4:29 of overtime.

Highlight of the game

Schneider's blocker save on James van Riemsdyk at 13:06 of the first period.

They said it

"Pretty much it's been like that all year. He's one of the best goalies in the League and tonight, he made some timely saves when we needed it. It's unfortunate we couldn't get him the win." -- Devils forward Travis Zajac on Cory Schneider
"Tonight was a game where there was absolutely no room but I don't think if you look at our guys they'd tell you it was fun to play in. Once it's fun to play in, then we'll have made some steps. Why do you think [3-on-3 overtime] was fun? They got to touch the puck for once. Some shifts were 20 seconds long with three whistles." -- Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock

Need to know

Zajac played 16:11 and had two shots in his season debut. He missed the first 17 games recovering from surgery to repair a torn left pectoral muscle on Aug 17. … Devils forwards Palmieri and Hall each had a game-high seven shots. … Nylander's goal was his first in overtime in the NHL.

What's next

Devils: At the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday (3 p.m. ET; TSN3, MSG+, NHL.TV)
Maple Leafs: At the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; CBC, SN, CITY, TVA Sports, NHL.TV)