Jesper Bratt broke a tie with 1:14 remaining, securing a 6-5 victory for the New Jersey Devils over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night, despite Auston Matthews scoring his NHL-leading 67th and 68th goals of the season.
“A little sloppy at times,” Matthews remarked. “We didn’t seem as dialed in as we should have been.”
Matthews holds the highest single-season goal total in the NHL since Mario Lemieux’s 69 goals in 1995-96.
Bratt, who also had an assist, scored twice, while Timo Meier added two goals and an assist for the Devils. Erik Haula and Nolan Foote also found the net, and Jake Allen made 27 saves. Luke Hughes contributed two assists.
“This game showed the strength of our team effort,” Bratt said after his three-point performance.
John Tavares scored twice for Toronto, David Kampf added a goal, and Ilya Samsonov made 14 saves.
With the score tied at 4-4, Matthews was penalized for tripping in the third period, and the Devils capitalized with Bratt scoring his 26th goal of the season with 8:57 left.
Tavares equalized for Toronto with his second goal of the night — his 26th of the season — with 4:47 remaining. However, Bratt responded with his 27th goal, snapping a shot past Samsonov off the rush with just 1:14 to play.
“Loose game, strange game,” said Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe. “Not one that you love, but we’ll move on.”
Matthews had tied the game at 3-3 with his 68th goal off a pass from Max Domi at 7:59 of the second period. The goal, Matthews’ ninth in the last seven games, marked his 274th even-strength goal, surpassing Mats Sundin for the most in franchise history. Matthews now has 367 career goals.
“We don’t want to play this up-and-down, freewheeling style,” Matthews added.
UP NEXT:
- Toronto: Hosts Detroit on Saturday.
- New Jersey: At Philadelphia on Saturday.
