Jack Hughes produced his third career hat trick Tuesday night to lead the visiting New Jersey Devils to a 5-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Hughes flicked his third goal into an empty net at 19:30 of the third period to seal the fifth win in a row for the Devils and the second straight loss for the Maple Leafs.
Cody Glass and Brenden Dillon also scored for the Devils and Jesper Bratt supplied three assists. Jake Allen stopped 23 shots.
John Tavares had a goal and an assist for the Maple Leafs. Matias Maccelli added a goal while William Nylander contributed two assists. Anthony Stolarz made 30 saves.
Tavares rammed in the rebound from Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s point shot to open the scoring at 6:36 of the first. Tavares’ 498th career goal came 1:15 after Hughes rang the left goal post with a wrist shot.
Hughes tied the game with a shot from the high slot at 1:27 of the second.
Toronto challenged unsuccessfully — claiming goaltender Interference — and that resulted in a minor penalty. Glass scored with a nine-foot wrist shot on the power play at 3:20 of the second. Earlier in the power play, Toronto defenseman Chris Tanev went to the dressing room after suffering an upper-body injury during a pileup near the net. He did not return.
New Jersey took a 3-1 lead on Dillon’s 31-foot wrister at 4:56 of the second after a Toronto turnover resulted in a 3-on-1 break.
Toronto pulled within 3-2 at 7:03 of the second when Maccelli was unchecked in front of the net and Nylander fed him to finish a 2-on-1 rush.
Hughes restored the two-goal lead at 16:17 after Bratt’s stretch pass put him in the clear for a slap shot.
The Devils continued to control play in the third.
The Maple Leafs got a lifeline when they went on the power play at 15:44 of the third. Toronto had two shots on the power play, but failed to take advantage when Allen lost his stick.
Allen made a superb blocker stop on Morgan Rielly in the final minute.
Toronto’s top rookie, Easton Cowan, was a healthy scratch.
–Field Level Media
