After finally winning four games in a row for the first time in forever, the New Jersey Devils took a quick trip to Toronto on Tuesday night to play the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Toronto struck first, when John Tavares was able to tip in a shot from Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Not too long after, Paul Cotter had a close-range shot on Anthony Stolarz, but failed to find the tying goal.
Down one going into the second period, Jesper Bratt found Jack Hughes with a line to Stolarz. Hughes easily wristed the shot past the Toronto netminder, but the Leafs challenged the goal for goaltender interference, alleging that Ondrej Palat impeded Stolarz’s ability to defend his crease. Hughes’ goal stood and the Devils found themselves on the power play.
As the power play was winding down, Timo Meier took a shot from the right circle, which was deflected in by Cody Glass. The Devils were taking good shots at the net when they could.
Just over a minute later, Toronto lost track of the game and allowed the Devils to skate down the ice four-on-one. Luke Glendening found himself with the puck on the right side of the ice, passing cleanly over to Brenden Dillon, who pushed the puck past Stolarz, giving New Jersey their third goal in five minutes.
The Leafs weren’t willing to give up though. A stretch pass through the neutral zone to Tavares was sent over to William Nylander. The forward drew Jake Allen completely out of position before passing the puck to Matias Maccelli, who easily put it into the empty net.
Just before his brother would score his second of the night, Luke Hughes tried a wraparound shot, but was beaten by Stolarz to the post. A giveaway by Autson Matthews in the Devils’ zone left Bratt to sauce the puck to Jack Hughes, who was down on the left side of the neutral zone. All alone in front of Stolarz, Hughes wound up for a slap shot that sailed by the goaltender’s right side.
Down two goals, the Leafs tried their hardest but ultimately pulled Stolarz at the end of the game. Bratt once again found the older Hughes brother, who sent the puck bouncing down to the empty net, earning his third career hat trick.
A little lullaby to send you off to sleep, Devils fam. pic.twitter.com/2AkRNQ5ajU
— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) October 22, 2025
The Devils are currently on a five-game win streak and are looking confident. With a quick turnaround, the team will play on Wednesday night at home against the Minnesota Wild at 7 p.m.
