Monday, March 24, 2014
Sports News

 

Desperate Devils hold off Maple Leafs

Send a link to a friend  Share

[March 24, 2014]  NEWARK, N.J. — In a battle between two teams in desperation mode heading down the stretch, it was the New Jersey Devils that rose to the occasion.

Center Patrik Elias and defenseman Jon Merrill scored 32 seconds apart early in the second period and that proved to be the difference in the New Jersey Devils' 3-2 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday night at Prudential Center.

The victory pulled the Devils to within five points of the Maple Leafs, who hold the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference despite losing five in a row and six of seven.

The Devils have 10 games remaining, which means they likely have to run the table, or something close to it, to avoid missing the playoffs for a second straight season.

Devils coach Peter DeBoer believes that a perfect finish is something his team can accomplish.

"I know the statistics don't say that, but I really feel we can win every game," DeBoer said. "When I look at our schedule, I think if our goaltending continues the way it's played, I think we can win every game."

Eight of the Devils' final 10 games are against teams currently outside of a playoff spot.


The Maple Leafs could be out of the playoff picture if they don't right their ship. They are one point clear of the ninth-place Washington Capitals, who have played one fewer game. During this seven-game stretch with six regulation losses, the Maple Leafs have allowed 27 goals as starting goaltender Jonathan Bernier nurses a groin injury.

Goaltender James Reimer was pulled Sunday after allowing three goals on 10 shots. Backup Drew MacIntyre stopped all 14 shots he faced, but it was not enough to overcome a sloppy start that led to three Devils goals in the game's first 22 minutes.

"We made some key mistakes that let them come in all alone on him," said Maple Leafs center Tyler Bozak, who scored in the second period to cut the deficit to 3-1. "He made some huge saves for us. He made some key saves and they were right in alone on him when they scored, so you can't blame him for those ones.

"It was a team effort tonight. We lost as a team."

"There's no easy way when you're down three on the road, to consistently think you're going to come back in the hockey games," Maple Leafs coach Randy Carlyle said. "We made some mistakes and obviously they capitalized."

Right winger Damien Brunner scored with 5:32 remaining in the first period to give the Devils a 1-0 advantage. The Maple Leafs had a breakdown in the neutral zone that led to a 2-on-1, which allowed left winger Adam Henrique to make the pass to Brunner for his 12th goal of the season.

Elias carved through the Leafs defense for his 17th goal of the season, a pretty breakaway tally that Reimer had almost no chance of stopping. Then some sloppy coverage allowed Merrill to hammer home his second goal of the season to make it 3-0.

[to top of second column]

It was a huge bounce-back performance for the Devils after they suffered a crushing 2-0 loss to the New York Rangers on Saturday.

"You can never question the effort of this group," said Devils goaltender Cory Schneider, who made 21 saves. "Night in and night out, we play hard. We don't always get the results and we're going to make mistakes like any team does but this is one of the hardest-working teams I've ever been on and it showed tonight."

To the Leafs' credit, they didn't roll over in this game, either. With MacIntyre at the bench for an extra attacker, right winger Phil Kessel scored his 36th goal of the season to make it 3-2. It set up a frantic finish, but the Devils were able to survive.

It could have been a different outcome for the Maple Leafs if they had scored during a 5-on-3 that lasted 1:16 toward the end of the second period. Schneider and the penalty killers weathered the storm, maintaining a two-goal lead that made playing the final 20 minutes a little less stressful.

"We have a good group of guys in here and we really stuck together as a team," Merrill said. "To kill that 5-on-3 in the second there was a huge momentum swing for us."

NOTES: The Maple Leafs were without G Jonathan Bernier (groin) and D Paul Ranger (neck). Bernier last played March 13, while Ranger suffered his injury against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday. On March 11, the Maple Leafs had 78 points, the third most in the Eastern Conference. They lost six of their next seven games. ... Devils D Anton Volchenkov (lower body) and RW Steve Bernier (healthy scratch) did not play. Devils coach Peter DeBoer dressed seven defensemen, although D Eric Gelinas saw time at forward.

[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

< Sports index

Back to top