TORONTO – The Maple Leafs reached the mid-season notch of the season with another dramatic come-from-behind victory, a six-game goal from Mitch Marner and a hat-trick from Auston Matthews.
But as good as the 6-4 victory for the home team against the New Jersey Devils felt to extend their winning streak to four games, there were some disturbing signs for the Maple Leafs (28-10-3), which identical record they enjoyed at the 41-match point a year ago.
Maple Leafs’ opening goalie, Jack Campbell, was not sharp against the Devils at Scotiabank Arena. He was lifted after allowing three goals on nine shots at 9:10 in the first period. But also the team in front of him did not look sharp early in matches just to turn on the attacking tap in the third period.
Forty-eight hours after overcoming a two-goal deficit, third period in Detroit against the Red Wings to win 7-4, the Maple Leafs returned from a 4-2 disadvantage to defeat the Devils.
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“Jack has not yet played at the same level he has established for himself,” said Toronto head coach Sheldon Keefe. “But also not the team in front of him.
“It is up to us. It’s not nearly enough. We have a guy who fought for us and was the backbone of this team. ”
Campbell’s game earned him a trip to the NHL star game in Las Vegas over the weekend. But he has yielded 16 goals in his last nine plus periods.
“Our start was not very good,” said Matthews, who now has 28 goals in 38 games. “We were not ready from the beginning.
“Soup (Campbell) did not play badly. We just gave them a few Grade A chances. ”
After two periods, the visitors held a 4-2 lead, hoping to give rookie netkeeper Akira Schmid his first career NHL victory in his fourth start and fifth appearance. The 21-year-old Swiss goalkeeper entered the match with a 0-3-0 record, and an awful 0.824 save percentage.
The Leafs outscored New Jersey 33-29. The Devils (15-24-5) lost five in a row.
Toronto’s return began early in the third period when Jason Spezza switched a pass from Ilya Mikheyev from close range.
Marner tied the game with 6:31 remaining from a draw in the Devil’s End. Matthews lost the tie, but linebacker Michael Bunting chased the loose shooter and returned it to Matthews. He then put Marner ahead for his sixth goal in a personal best six consecutive games.
“We just did what we do best in the third period,” Marner said.
The Devils had a power play late in regulation time, but Toronto’s Alex Kerfoot found Mikheyev on a brilliant two-on-one with 3:04 left. Matthews scored an empty goal scorer.
“For us, we have to be ready to play physically,” Marner said.
“As a team, we know it’s a big deal.”
New Jersey was without its veteran head coach Lindy Ruff, who left the team to be back with his family in Warburg, Alta., After the death of his 88-year-old father, Leeson.
The Devils took advantage of a slow start from the Maple Leafs to build a 2-0 lead against the 6:20 mark of the opening period.
Keefe called a timeout after New Jersey’s third goal to scold his players and lift Campbell in favor of backup Petr Mrazek.
It was at the forefront of a home-and-home set between the two teams they will see play in New Jersey on Tuesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on January 31, 2022.
© 2022 The Canadian Press
Reference-globalnews.ca