The Toronto Maple Leafs know they were lucky to win on Tuesday, thanks to goaltender Anthony Stolarz, and they plan to improve when they play the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night.
Stolarz made 38 saves against the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday, and captain Auston Matthews scored in overtime to give Toronto a 2-1 win. The result didn’t really match how the game went. New Jersey had 16 shots to Toronto’s one in the first period and ended up with 39 shots to 17 for the game.
The Devils only scored once, in the second period, while Toronto tied the game in the third with a short-handed goal by Pontus Holmberg.
“It was a great goal for us,” said Toronto coach Craig Berube about Holmberg’s goal. “We had more chances short-handed than we did five-on-five and the power play tonight. I mean, our short-handed chances were good. I thought we created some opportunities there, and that was a big goal.”
Stolarz, who grew up in Edison, N.J., said, “I grew up a Devils fan so anytime you can beat your childhood team, it’s exciting.”
“Without (Stolarz), it’s not even close,” said Toronto defenseman Chris Tanev, who had an assist and five blocked shots. “So, big props to him. Better third (period) for us. But the first two were god-awful. So, thankfully, he made a key number of saves that allowed us to keep it 1-0.”
Toronto avoided a three-game losing streak when Matthews scored his 13th career overtime goal, which is one short of Mats Sundin’s franchise record.
“In the first five minutes of the game, they had seven shots, so I think when a team is going to pepper you pretty early on and kind of get you in a groove, it’s kind of up to you to stay in there and just keep battling,” Stolarz said.
Berube wasn’t worried about how the win came.
“It’s one of those games,” Berube said. “I mean, I’m not really going to read too much into it. I’m not going to talk about it too much. Our goalie was excellent. We found a way to get two points. That’s all that matters.”
The Ducks are struggling, with a 0-3-1 record in their last four games after losing 5-1 to the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday, their second game of a four-game road trip.
Cutter Gauthier scored for the Ducks, and John Gibson made 29 saves. Anaheim’s Leo Carlsson (upper-body injury) returned on Wednesday after missing six games.
“Leo is a dynamic player,” Ducks coach Greg Cronin said. “He’s got the size and the length and the skill. Anytime you get somebody back in the lineup like that, it’s going to add some offense to our team. And we’ve obviously struggled this year with the offensive part of the game, so I think that will give us a good boost.”
Carlsson, who has six goals and five assists in 21 games this season, played 13:35 against the Senators but didn’t have any shots on goal.
“We weren’t skating,” Cronin said. “I mean, they were jumping from the opening faceoff, they won faceoff battles, they won edge battles, they won puck battles. It’s hard to compete when you’re behind the puck.”
Toronto’s Max Domi (lower-body injury) returned on Tuesday after missing eight games. He had two shots on goal in 14:57 of ice time.
The Maple Leafs are 12-4-0 at home, with five wins in their last six games in Toronto. The Ducks are 5-4-3 on the road, and the current 0-1-1 start to the trip came after a 4-0-1 stretch away from home.
