Maple Leafs Decimate New Jersey Devils 6-1

The Toronto Maple Leafs have been working hard all season to produce the balance needed, and that was evident on Friday as they took on the New Jersey Devils. It saw all four lines scoring in a showing of their strength as Toronto made it look easy in their 6-1 defeat of the Devils.

While Toronto has seen aggressively successful starts in past seasons, this year feels different. Gone is expecting its top players to carry the team and in is a balanced team focused on producing results. For Mike Babcock, the change is working, and it was Morgan Reilly, the star defensemen who earned two points last night in the game against the New Jersey Devils, it was also one that again saw Mitch Marner failing to get on the scoresheet and ten players earning at least one point.

Patrick Marleau, who earned his 600th career assist last night stated,

“It was great, the more spread out the scoring, the better, and I think guys are starting to feel better about themselves, and we’re scoring the right way, by playing the systems, so we just want to build on that.”

Toronto once again was first to score in back-to-back games thanks to Tavares finishing off a play with help from Ron Hainsey, and Morgan Rielly to then tap the puck past Devils goaltender Keith Kinkaid. This was the fourth game in a row, one that saw the Leafs outshooting the Devils 15-7, that Tavares has earned points, two of those were for goals, the others assists.

Frederik Andersen has 38 saves for the night and once again performed well. Commenting, Andersen said,

“The first period was unbelievable. I thought we limited their chances to barely any, actually. And obviously they came out a little harder in the second and third chasing the game, but I thought we did a good job.”

After the first line got the Leads on the scoreboard, it was the second line and Nazem Kadri who made it 2-0 after a shot to the right corner that went past the open glove of Kinkaid. It was Kadri’s fifth of the season, and it didn’t take long for the third line to equal the playing field after Connor Brown scored his second of the year with a wrap around.

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Commenting on getting his first of the year, Johnsson said.

“It was probably the most chances I had in a game, so it was nice to get it. I feel like the hardest part here is you have to be good every day, or else you’re getting run over. Our line has been feeling good together these last couple of games, so it was nice to score more.”

Mike Babcock, in post-game interviews, said that when players work hard, they do things together. Babcock added that he feels the Leafs have a chance to see a lot of success this season. He added,

“So that’s what we’re trying to do each and every day. Some days it goes good. There were a lot of those seeing-eye pucks tonight going through crowds, and you know it’s never fun being on the wrong end of those; it’s more fun being on the right end.”

Earlier in the week, Toronto was complaining that bounces were not going in their favour, but the last three-game winning streak has seen its share of luck, and it is starting to see players getting more involved in the action and helping to increase Toronto’s strength.

One of those is Tyler Ennis, who stated,

“We’re such a fast group through the neutral zone, we just try to wear teams down with our speed and I think it showed tonight. I think everyone was on the same page and we were just trying to play fast.”

And that is being noticed by Coach Babcock, who added,

“Everyone got to play, everyone got some puck touches so in the end you leave feeling good, and we didn’t put too much duress on our team playing back-to-back on Saturday in Boston, so that gives us a better opportunity.”

The Maple Leafs will be in Boston tonight to take on the Boston Bruins before heading to Los Angeles for a late night game on Tuesday. Toronto is now second in the NHL Atlantic Division with 11 wins after 16 games played and are only one back from Tampa Bay. For punters and Leaf fans, it is prime for those wanting to place bets on future Maple Leafs games with our recommended list of NHL sports betting sites. Sign up today and claim one of multiple generous signup bonuses, at the pace the Leafs are playing this year, the odds are favourable.