The New Jersey Devils can complete their first five-game winning streak in more than two years Tuesday night when they visit the Toronto Maple Leafs.
They made it four in a row Saturday afternoon with a 5-3 home victory over the Edmonton Oilers in which Jack Hughes scored twice.
The Devils last won five straight games Jan. 7-16, 2023. Since then, they had settled for 13 three-game win streaks.
“You want to be one of those teams that can go on a crazy streak,” Hughes said. “I think that is something we have been missing in the past. There’s two or three years since we’ve done that, right? So it’s nice that we can build a little streak and hopefully build off it.”
The Maple Leafs would like to get a streak of their own going. They are 2-1-1 on a five-game homestand that ends Tuesday.
They lost 4-3 in overtime Saturday night to the Seattle Kraken and Toronto goaltender Anthony Stolarz was steaming.
“Even though we’re six games into the season, enough’s enough,” Stolarz said. “We have to start picking up here. How many points are we going to leave out there? The potential is there. We have the skill, we have the grit, we have the grind. It’s just frustrating that we can’t put it together right now.”
He was not pleased that William Nylander let Seattle’s Josh Mahura skate around him to score in overtime.
“It’s overtime, you can’t let someone beat you up the ice there and get a clear-cut breakaway,” Stolarz said.
“It’s frustration. We all prefer that it stays in the room, but it happens,” Toronto coach Craig Berube said Monday at practice. “We’ve moved on from it.”
The comments have been discussed within the team.
“We’re all big boys in here,” said Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews. “There was no beating around the bush.”
The Maple Leafs have not been taking advantage of playing eight of their first 10 games of the season at home.
“We’re hit and miss,” said defenseman Morgan Rielly, who scored once Saturday. “It’s early, but everyone wants that good start. We’re obviously at home for a while and we want to take advantage. So, there is a sense of urgency to bank some points and play well.”
Tuesday will be another homecoming for Devils coach Sheldon Keefe, who coached Toronto for more than four seasons before Berube took over last year.
Under Keefe, the Devils continue to excel at killing penalties, going 3-for-3 on Saturday to move to 19-for-20 on the season.
“Once you get a roll going, you get a lot of confidence,” said Connor Brown, who scored a short-handed goal Saturday. “We have a lot of guys that have a lot of time on the penalty kill in this league. With that combination, there’s a lot of communication between us and the coach. An understanding of what to do, where to pressure, where to go, how to support each other and on the ice communicating and talking things out.”
Jake Allen is expected to start in goal for the Devils on Tuesday with Nico Daws drawing the assignment Wednesday against the visiting Minnesota Wild.
Devils forward Stefan Noesen, who has been out with a groin injury, took part in practice on Monday. He has been ruled out for Tuesday, but Keefe said it’s possible he’ll play Wednesday.
–Field Level Media
