Matthews breaks out, then Leafs break down
NEWARK, N.J.— Auston Matthews ended his 13-game goal-less drought with two goals and an assist, but it wasn’t enough as the Maple Leafs blew a three-goal lead and lost 5-4 to the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday.
Jacob Josefson scored the winning goal in a shootout as New Jersey improved to 7-0-1 at home.
The Leafs, now 0-2 in shootouts and stuck on one road win, led 3-0 after 20 minutes thanks to Matthews but couldn’t hold on, a familiar theme for them on the road this season.
Matthews scored his first on a tapin, outmuscling a Devils defender to get to the puck. He assisted on Nazem Kadri’s goal with a hard forecheck, stripping a defender of the puck in the corner and going to the net. Matthews then scored again, taking a pass from Zach Hyman and lifting it over Devils netminder Cory Schneider.
The Devils wiped out that lead in the first 5:30 of the second period, on goals by Travis Zajac, Beau Bennett and Mike Cammalleri.
Cammalleri had four points in his first game back since taking a twoweek leave to be with his daughter, who was hospitalized with pneumonia.
Matt Martin scored his first goal as a Maple Leaf to give Toronto the lead again at 9:26 of the second. But Youhann Auvitu scored midway through the third to tie the game at 4-4. The play might have been goaltender interference, but the Leafs couldn’t challenge, having used their timeout after the Devils’ three-goal outburst.
Matthews’ struggles to score had been reaching comical levels as he piled up missed chance after missed chance, including an empty net the night before. The prized rookie forged through the drought, though, and was often the best forward on the ice. The team’s possession numbers showed they were better off with him on the ice than off.
Leafs coach Mike Babcock had tried different wingers — Connor Brown on the road at even strength, William Nylander at home — to get him going.
“I don’t think it’s the end of the world at any time in life to go through tough times,” Babcock said before the game. “It depends on how you handle it, and how hard you battle to get through it. When you come through the other side, you’re better for it.”
The Leafs remain stuck on one road win after 10 games away from the Air Canada Centre. The Leafs are also 0-3-1 in the second of back-to-back games. And goalie Jhonas Enroth is still looking for his first win as a Maple Leaf.
A year ago, the Leafs had 18 points (7-9-4) through 20 games and were last in the Atlantic Division, three points behind the playoff teams. They have 20 points (8-8-4) this year, but it’s a very different roster.
“We’ve done lots of good things, but we’ve also identified areas we’re not good enough in,” Babcock said. “It’s become clearer as time has gone on. The league is going to get tighter and harder from here on in. We have a long way to go, we understand that totally but we’re excited about the work we’re getting done.” The Leafs will hit American Thanksgiving outside of a post-season spot again. The general rule of thumb is that teams have figured out whether they are a playoff team or not by this point. Through the past 20 years, an average of 13 of 16 teams in a playoff spot at the 20-game mark reach the post-season.
There are exceptions. Anaheim came from a long way back last season. Ottawa did the same in 2015 on the miraculous goaltending of Andrew Hammond.
Babcock warned the season is going to get harder, especially on the team’s many youngsters.
“There’s no room,” he said. “You have to learn how to play with no room. The other leagues you played in, you had the puck all the time and there was lots of room. It was lots of fun. They’re going to wonder what happened to the game. It used to be fun. Now it’s a grind. That’s the NHL.”