Matthews lifts Maple Leafs past Devils in OT

Auston Matthews scored on a breakaway 2:51 into overtime and Anthony Stolarz made 38 saves for the Toronto Maple Leafs in a 2-1 win against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on Tuesday.

“The puck was hard to kind of settle down, so I just tried to get it up and over [Jacob Markstrom],” Matthews said. “He’s a big guy, takes up a lot of the net. I was just kind of guessing he was going to go down and just try to lift it.”

Matthews has 29 points (19 goals, 10 assists) in 20 career games against the Devils.

“I just tried to stick with it and the game was very ugly on our side for most of the game, so to squeak out this one is good,” Matthews said.

Pontus Holmberg scored for the Maple Leafs (17-9-2), who had lost two straight games.

“They’re a very skilled team and one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference so for us to kind of not lay down, come out in the third, and do a really good job of getting back to our game was great,” Stolarz said. “Lucky for us, we got [Matthews] to bury the puck to get the two points.”

Ondrej Palat scored, and Jacob Markstrom made 14 saves for the Devils (18-10-3), who have lost two straight. New Jersey lost 4-0 to the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday in the second of a five-game homestand.

“They have the best goaltending in the League on the other side of the ice,” New Jersey coach Sheldon Keefe said.

Holmberg tied the game 1-1 with a short-handed goal on a wrist shot from the slot at 10:42 of the third period. Stolarz stopped Stefan Noesen from the slot just 15 seconds earlier.

“It was a great goal for us,” Toronto coach Craig Berube said. “We got more chances short-handed than we did 5-on-5 and power play tonight. I mean, our short-handed chances were good. I thought we created some opportunities there and that was a big goal.”

The Devils held a 39-16 advantage in shots. Toronto had one shot on three power-play attempts and two shots on four New Jersey power plays.

“In the first five minutes of the game, they had seven shots, so I think when a team is going to pepper you pretty early on and kind of get you in a groove, it’s kind of up to you to stay in there and just keep battling,” Stolarz said. “They’re an offensive team with a lot of skill, so they’re throwing pucks at the net and getting traffic around there so it’s just up to me to kind of battle through, make the saves, and not give up any second-chance rebounds.”

Stolarz, born in Edison, New Jersey, made 16 saves in the first period. He had a left pad save against Dawson Mercer at 16:29 and stopped a backhand attempt by Jesper Bratt at 17:17. The 30-year-old goalie said he had 40 family members and friends in attendance.

“I grew up a Devils fan so anytime you can beat your childhood team, it’s exciting,” Stolarz said. “I think for us just to get back in the win column, is huge so hopefully we can just keep it going here.”

Markstrom made one of his five saves in the second period on a breakaway attempt by Matthews at 5:46.

“It’s a great game by our guys and they deserved a lot more than one point,” Markstrom said. “I thought we lost one point tonight. You don’t build off losses, you build off wins, so that’s a sour one.”

Palat scored his first goal in 12 games to give New Jersey a 1-0 lead at 7:16 of the second period. Bratt drew two players to him in the right face-off circle before passing to Palat at the left hashmark for a wrist shot inside the left post.

Stolarz kept Toronto within one goal with a save against Nico Hischier on a short-handed breakaway at 9:42 of the second, and Max Pacioretty had a big hit on Jack Hughes at 18:44 of the second to provide a spark entering the third.

“We finally got some contact from somebody which was good because if you’re not going to take the body on this team and let them skate around all night, you’re going to be in trouble,” Berube said. “It’s a good, clean hit and we needed it.”

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