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 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.
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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.
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