Maple Leafs score twice late in 3rd, rally past Devils

NEWARK, N.J. --Auston Matthews and Michael Bunting scored 1:57 apart late in the third period for the Toronto Maple Leafs, who rallied for a 4-3 win against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on Tuesday.

"Our guys stuck with it, made some key plays, clutch plays at key times," Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said. "It was a really great way to finish our road trip (3-2-0)."
Bunting tied it 3-3 at 15:10, shooting into an open net off a backhand pass from David Kampf, who forced Vitek Vanecek to overcommit.
Matthews then gave Toronto a 4-3 lead at 17:07 with a power-play goal, receiving a pass from William Nylander and scoring low glove side. Bunting lifted his left leg to allow the puck to get to Matthews at the right hash marks.
"I think it kind of gave me a little bit more space to get a shot off," Matthews said. "It was just really a nice heads-up play by [Bunting], and a beautiful pass by 'Willie' just to read the pressure and find me there in the slot."
Bunting said, "I heard [Matthews] calling for it, and clearly he was wide open, so I didn't want to get in the way of that, and he made that count."

Mitchell Marner had a goal and an assist, Nylander had two assists, and Ilya Samsonov made 30 saves for the Maple Leafs (39-17-8), who were playing without forwards Ryan O'Reilly (broken finger) and John Tavares (undisclosed), and defenseman Luke Schenn (wife due to give birth).
Toronto is five points ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning for second in the Atlantic Division.
Erik Haula had two goals and an assist, Ondrej Palat had a goal and two assists, and Vanecek made 21 saves for the Devils (41-16-6), who had their five-game point streak end.
New Jersey is four points behind the Carolina Hurricanes for first in the Metropolitan Division.
"With five minutes left, the other team should have to earn the opportunity," Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. "They didn't earn it. We gave it to them. We didn't stay on the puck on the tying goal. We didn't come back hard enough, and they get to walk in and tie the game."

Timo Meier, who was acquired from the San Jose Sharks on Feb. 26, was in the penalty box for high-sticking on Matthews' game-winner.
"I should keep my stick down. It's just kind of how it goes tonight," Meier said. "I will start learning from it, and it's going to motivate me to get better and make sure this is not going to happen again. The next time we're in this position, we're going to turn the game to our side."
Calle Jarnkrok gave the Maple Leafs a 1-0 lead at 7:30 of the second period when he finished a backdoor pass from Nylander at the right post.
Haula tied it 1-1 at 16:47, scoring from the slot after Justin Holl and Marner couldn't clear away the rebound of Jesper Boqvist's initial shot.
Marner put Toronto back in front 2-1 at 4:57 of the third period, scoring on a short-handed breakaway after stealing the puck from Meier in the neutral zone.
"I just tried to keep the pressure on, tried to make him force a quick play, and kind of bounced outside and thought I could have had a step on it, and then I did," Marner said. "I tried to steal it and went down the ice to try to make a move that resulted in the way it did."

During the same power play, Palat tied it 2-2 by finishing his own rebound in front at 6:00.
Haula gave the Devils a 3-2 lead at 9:02 when he redirected Palat's shot from along the left boards short side on Samsonov.
"This was about perseverance and never giving up," Matthews said. "Even when they got the lead later in the third, we just battled and stayed with it. We got some big saves by [Samsonov], and I thought our defense made some big plays, especially at the end on the 6-on-5.
"It was one of those games you just kind of have to grind out, and that's what we did."

NOTES:Marner's short-handed goal was his third this season, which is tied for sixth in the NHL. Five players are tied for first with four. ... Matthews scored his 51st career game-winning goal, passing Ron Ellis for fourth in Maple Leafs history. ... Devils forward Dawson Mercer had an assist to extend his point streak to 10 games (10 goals, seven assists). … Palat briefly left the game to receive stitches above his upper lip after he was hit by the stick of Pontus Holmberg at 19:31 of the second period. … New Jersey forward Miles Wood did not play in the third period for precautionary reasons, Ruff said.