Jesper Bratt scored his second goal of the third period at 18:46 and the visiting New Jersey Devils survived two goals from Toronto’s Auston Matthews to earn a 6-5 win over the host Maple Leafs on Thursday.
Bratt and Timo Meier each finished with two goals and an assist for the Devils (38-37-5, 81 points), who were 1-4-1 in their previous four games.
Erik Haula and Nolan Foote also scored for the Devils, and Luke Hughes added two assists. Jake Allen stopped 27 shots for the win.
Matthews extended his goal streak to seven games with his league-leading 67th and 68th goals of the season. He passed Dave Keon for third on the all-time Maple Leafs goals list with 367.
John Tavares had two goals and David Kampf also scored for the Maple Leafs (46-24-9, 101 points), whose three-game winning streak ended. Toronto’s Max Domi and Mitch Marner each added two assists, and Ilya Samsonov made 14 saves.
Bratt scored his 26th goal of the season on a power play at 11:03 of the third period to give the Devils a 5-4 edge. Matthews was off for tripping.
Tavares tied the game from close range at 15:13 of the third before Bratt collected the winner in the final two minutes.
The Devils led 3-2 after a first period that saw both teams score in the opening minute.
Tavares scored his 25th goal of the season with a 22-foot shot 18 seconds in.
Haula tied it on his 16th of the season with a 17-footer 21 seconds later.
Domi set up Matthews to give Toronto the lead at 6:08. Matthews extended his point streak to 13 games (13 goals, 11 assists).
Foote intercepted an errant pass and scored his first goal of the season with a 6-foot backhander at 7:57.
Meier scored his 26th of the season on a power play at 12:37. Domi was off for slashing.
Matthews scored again at 7:59 of the second period on a deflection after Domi sent the puck to the front of the net, leveling the game at 3-3.
Toronto took the lead on Kampf’s eighth goal of the season at 9:16 of the second on a 6-foot wrist shot.
Meier scored from the slot after a faceoff at 19:48 of the second on a power play. TJ Brodie was off for hooking.
The teams split their two previous meetings this season, both in the past two weeks.
–Field Level Media