Another Game, Another Post-Regulation Loss; New Jersey Devils Fall 4-3 In Overtime To Toronto Maple Leafs

Nico Hischier scored twice and Jacob Markstrom was strong, but the Devils couldn’t find a way past Toronto tonight.

The New Jersey Devils have made a habit of playing beyond 60 minutes lately. They lost 3-2 in overtime to the New York Rangers on January 9th, won 3-2 in overtime against the Tampa Bay Lightning on January 11th, and lost 2-1 in a shootout against the Florida Panthers two nights ago. Tonight, the Devils made it four consecutive games to reach extra time, and they made it yet another loss in a 4-3 overtime defeat in Toronto against the Maple Leafs.

In reality, New Jersey was probably lucky to get a point out of this game. When these two teams last matched up on December 10th, the Devils absolutely steamrolled the Leafs in the run of play. New Jersey outshot Toronto 39-17, and according to Natural Stat Trick, they controlled about 64% of the Expected Goals at 5-on-5. But Anthony Stolarz was superb that night, and he stole two points for his team. Tonight wasn’t quite on that level of domination, but Toronto thoroughly outplayed New Jersey. It’s a shame the Devils couldn’t return the favor.

The two biggest reasons the Devils salvaged a point out of this one were Jacob Markstrom and Nico Hischier. Let’s start with Markstrom. In a game where New Jersey was outshot 41-24, Markstrom was up to the task time and again. Unlike in that December 10th game in which Markstrom let up a very, very soft goal, I don’t think any of the four he let past him tonight are ones he needed to have. Perhaps the first goal from William Nylander, but even that one was created off a good pass and a wicked shot by a great player. Other than that, Auston Matthews scoring off a rebound on the power play isn’t a bad one to let up, Matthews making a shot only he can make isn’t a bad one to let up, and a Nylander breakaway, the second breakaway allowed by New Jersey tonight (Markstrom stopped the first one) created by a horrible line change in overtime isn’t a bad one to let up. Markstorm couldn’t get two points for his team tonight, but they don’t get the first point without him.

Meanwhile, Hischier was one of the few Devils skaters who played a genuinely good game. You wouldn’t know it looking at the numbers at Natural Stat Trick (a 5-on-5 xGF% of 5.51%…no that’s not a typo), but this is one of those games where you throw the NST numbers away. There is no shot Hischier got run over that badly in the run of play, and in fact another analytics outlet, Hockey Stat Cards, thinks only Jack Hughes played better tonight for the Devils:

I am much more inclined to believe this than NST in this case. Hischier scored twice tonight, both times on the power play. He drew two penalties, including one when he created a shorthanded breakaway for himself. He had to absorb tough matchups against some of the best players in the sport all night long. And he did it all without his usual right winger, as Stefan Noesen missed his second straight game with Norovirus. (As a side note, I wonder if the team as a whole is battling through the Norovirus much more than we know). But Hischier rose to the occasion anyway. He’s now up to 22 goals on the season, which puts him well on pace to break his career high of 31, which he reached back in 2022-23. The captain showed up tonight, and without his contributions, New Jersey would’ve walked away without the loser point.

Other than that, there weren’t a whole lot of standout efforts. Jack Hughes did have himself a three-point night with a sweet goal in the first and two more assists later. Timo Meier was noticeable defensively (in a good way!) and he created some good looks, including a great effort to set up Hischier’s second power play goal. And I thought the third line of Paul Cotter-Justin Dowling-Tomas Tatar actually had a solid game. But the rest of the forward group struggled, and I wouldn’t say a single defenseman had himself a good night either. Particularly the Jonas Siegenthaler-Johnathan Kovacevic pairing, who had a rare off night in their matchup.

It was also a homecoming of sorts for head coach Sheldon Keefe, who returned to Toronto for the first time since coaching the Leafs from 2019-2024. In fact this will be the only time New Jersey visits Toronto this season, and tonight’s game also marked the end of the season series between these two squads. The Devils went 0-1-2 against the Maple Leafs in the end, a rather disappointing mark and one Keefe surely must be disappointed in. His team couldn’t get him a victory in his old stomping grounds, and instead they walk away with only one point.

The Devils have lost three of their last four, and seven of 10 games since the Christmas break. They haven’t played well recently, and their record over the past few weeks has reflected that. Another game, another post-regulation result, another loss. It was a disappointing night in Toronto.

The Game Stats: The NHL.com Game Summary | The NHL.com Event Summary | The NHL.com Play by Play Log | The NHL.com Shot Summary | The Natural Stat Trick Game Stats

The Shutdown Pair Gets Shut Down

I mentioned that I thought it was a rare off night for the shutdown pairing of Jonas Siegenthaler and Johnathan Kovacevic, and just about every number reflects that. Night after night, that duo is counted on to get in the way of the opposing team’s top players, and more often than not they rise to the occasion. We just saw this on Tuesday when they shut down the Florida Panthers’ top line led by all-world center Aleksander Barkov.

But tonight they just couldn’t handle the matchup. They got force fed the Leafs’ top two lines this evening, and both produced a 5-on-5 xGF% in the 30’s per NST. I already mentioned how those Natural Stat Trick numbers should be taken with a grain of salt given how unkind they were to Hischier, but even the Hockey Stat Cards chart above didn’t think they played well either.

The schedule gets a little easier for a while after tonight, so I expect Siegenthaler and Kovacevic to bounce back. But tonight was far from their best work.

The Search Continues

The search for a fourth goal, that is. With only three goals tonight, New Jersey has now gone nine straight games scoring three or fewer goals. The last time they reached the four-score mark was their first game out of the Christmas break, a 4-2 win over Carolina. Since then, they’ve scored three goals three times, two goals four times, one goal one time, and they’ve gotten shut out once. Very, very bad production.

The good news is that the power play might be coming around again. After that unit scored the winner against Tampa Bay last weekend, they notched a pair of goals tonight, both from Hischier. New Jersey had an utterly amazing power play for the first couple months of the season, but they went cold with the man advantage after Christmas. If the power play is actually back, that would go a long way to getting New Jersey over the three-goal barrier for the first time in a long time.

Matchup Nightmare

Add the Maple Leafs to the list of teams the Devils just don’t seem to play well against. Entering tonight, New Jersey had lost 13 of their last 16 games against Toronto. Tonight makes it 14 of their last 17. That is a completely lopsided number that stretches back many seasons. I am so sick and tired of watching New Jersey lose to Toronto.

And by the way, according to the MSG broadcast, the Devils had only lost one game all season long when they carried a lead into the third period…December 10th against Toronto. New Jersey held the lead after 40 minutes tonight as well, meaning the only two games they lost this season when leading after two periods have come against the Maple Leafs. That’s an annoying coincidence.

One of these days the tides will turn and the Devils will win something like eight of 10 games against the Maple Leafs. But that day is not today.

Next Time Out

New Jersey is back in action on Saturday afternoon when they host the Philadelphia Flyers. Puck drop is scheduled for 12:30pm.

Your Take

What did you make of tonight’s game? How impressed were you with Markstrom and Hischier? What do you expect against the Flyers on Saturday? As always, thanks for reading.