Lacking Physical Response, Keefe Excuses Devils Brutal Overtime Loss to Maple Leafs

NEWARK—There are not many ways to spin this one. The New Jersey Devils, who have been struggling on home ice, dropped a brutal loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, who have struggled on the road this season.

The Devils absolutely dominated puck possession, especially in the first period, when they out-shot the Maple Leafs 15-1. In fact, despite not scoring in the opening frame, they dominated the Maple Leafs so much, they accrued an 18-2 scoring chance differential in the first 20 minutes.

That domination continued in the second period, and the Devils were finally rewarded with a goal after Jesper Bratt drew three Toronto defenders on the rush, and fed Ondrej Palat. Palat beat Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz for the 1-0 lead at 07:16 of the middle frame.

Toward the end of the second period, Maple Leafs forward Max Pacioretty threw a big hit on Devils superstar Jack Hughes. Viewed as a clean hit, there was no call on the ice, however, the lack of response from Devils personnel after their star player took a hard shot was concerning. Especially given the fact that head coach Sheldon Keefe just explained the Devils need to find an emotional response in crucial moments one game ago.

“You gotta get some sort of emotional response. A big hit, a fight, a shot, a scoring chance, whatever it takes,” Keefe said following a 4-0 loss to the Colorado Avalanche earlier this week. “But a big part of it is the energy and the life comes through getting the neutral zone and starting to attack the net. They made it hard on us to do that today, and we didn’t do enough to play through it.”

That’s when things began to shift.

The Devils carried a 1-0 lead into the third period, just to lose it with under 10 minutes left in the game. Connor Dewar bet Dawson Mercer in a foot race to a loose puck, left it for Pontus Holmberg who slid the rubber under Jacob Markstrom‘s pads to tie the game at one.

“I whiffed on it,” Markstrom explained after the loss.

The Devils and Maple Leafs couldn’t settle things in regulation. In overtime, New Jersey once again dominated the possession. Yet, a shot by Brett Pesce on Toronto’s end of the ice led to a breakaway for Auston Matthews, who wouldn’t be denied the overtime winning goal to seal a 2-1 loss for the Devils.

Throughout the 62:51 contest, the Devils’ dominance can be exemplified by the shot differential, which favored New Jersey 39-17. That notion is even further ensured by the Devils’ positive 22-11 scoring chance differential at 5-on-5. Heck, the Devils even out-chanced the Maple Leafs on the penalty kill, accruing three chances as opposed to Toronto’s one across three power plays.

“If you played the way we did today, a lot of times you’re gonna come out with a win,” Timo Meier explained.

Meier’s right. More often than not, when a team outscores and out-chances the opponent the way the Devils did, it’s typically going to end in a victory. Keefe felt the same way and, despite the loss, was happy with his team’s effort.

“We pressured the puck and we worked. I thought we won puck battles consistently,” Keefe explained. “We lost someone on the first goal. Aside from that, I thought we were outstanding competitively. It’s clearly our best first period of the season, like not even close. So, yeah, I leave here feeling pretty good for our team tonight.”

However, that’s what separates the true contenders in the NHL from the teams still on the cusp. After last season, and with the way the Devils have struggled to win on home ice, they have yet to convince anyone they can be trusted as a contender.

A win in a close contest against an elite team in the Maple Leafs might have helped push that narrative in the right direction.

Yet, the notion that the Devils still have a lot to prove was reinforced when they fumbled Tuesday night’s performance and were left short a point.

When asked about what prevented the Devils from scoring more than one goal on 39 shots, Keefe’s response was quite surprising.

“Best goaltending in the league on the other side [of the ice],” Keefe responded to New Jersey Hockey Now.

This is no slight to Stolarz who is having a fantastic season. But, to say the Maple Leafs have the best goaltending in the entire league when Igor Shesterkin just signed a record-setting contract, Andrei Vasilevskiy & Connor Hellebuyck exist, and there are plenty of other names you can place ahead of Stolarz in terms of talent, it downright sounds like an excuse.

It was a great body of work by Stolarz, no doubt, But the Devils need to dig in, having just scored one goal over their last two contests.

Timo Meier, however, had a different suggestion on how to score more goals.

“We have to make it even tougher on their goalie. We have to get more in his eyes so he really can’t see the puck and just bearing down,” Meier explained. “Sometimes we feel like we grip the stick a little too hard when we’re in front, and we have chances. But, it’s gonna come.”

The Devils have two more games at home this week and host the red-hot Los Angeles Kings on Thursday. It’ll be another test for the Devils who still have much to prove.

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