Maple Leafs score twice late in 3rd, rally past Devils
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.
Bunting tied it 3-3 at 15:10, shooting into an open net off a backhand pass from David Kampf, who had gotten Vitek Vanecek to overcommit.
Matthews then gave Toronto a 4-3 lead at 17:07 with a power-play goal, controlling a pass from William Nylander and scoring glove side from the right hash marks.
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).
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. Dawson Mercer had an assist to extend his point streak to 10 games (10 goals, seven assists).
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 Timo Meier in the neutral zone.
During the same power play, Palat tied it 2-2 by finishing his own in front at 6:00. He had 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.
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.
Lines for tonight@JackpotCityCA | #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/aWbHrc22ml
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) March 7, 2023
LEAFS WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWIN!!@LGCanada | #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/Jkj3RKknuJ
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) March 8, 2023
Called game ⭐️@Molson_Canadian | #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/Mc5KOt9qkB
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) March 8, 2023
Tonight’s @OLG_CA Game Winning Numbers | #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/f1LM0Rm6xs
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) March 8, 2023