Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner aim to continue their high-octane offense on Tuesday as the Toronto Maple Leafs bid to complete a home-and-home sweep of the New Jersey Devils in Newark, N.J.
Matthews recorded his fifth career hat trick and second in as many meetings with New Jersey in the Maple Leafs’ 6-4 win on Monday in Toronto. He converted twice in the first period before scoring into an empty net in the third to boost his career point total to 400.
Matthews, who notched had an assist on Marner’s third-period goal, has 16 points (eight goals, eight assists) in his past 10 games.
Marner set up both of Matthews’ first-period goals before scoring in his sixth straight game to forge a tie with 6:32 remaining in the third. Marner has six goals and as many assists in his past six games.
Although Toronto has overcome 4-2 deficits in back-to-back contests, Marner stressed that his team needs to focus on better starts to avoid putting itself in precarious situations.
“I think we all know we have the firepower,” Marner told Sportsnet after the Monday game. “We don’t want to be in this position a lot. There are nights that sometimes this isn’t going to happen. We always have to believe in ourselves out there and we trust one another out there.”
While the Maple Leafs are riding high with four straight victories, the Devils were left to pick up the pieces after dropping their fifth in a row and eighth in their last nine games.
“It’s extremely disappointing. We put ourselves in a good position to win a game against a good team and came up short in the end,” said New Jersey assistant coach Alain Nasreddine, who assumed the head-coaching responsibilities on Monday with Lindy Ruff leaving the team following the death of his father, Leeson.
Jesper Boqvist scored for the second time in as many games for the Devils. Andreas Johnsson also tallied in his first contest against his former team since being traded from Toronto in October 2020 for fellow forward Joey Anderson.
New Jersey goaltender Jon Gillies likely will get the nod on Tuesday in an attempt to snap the skid. The 28-year-old has yet to face the Maple Leafs in his 20-game NHL career.
Toronto will once again be without defenseman Jake Muzzin. The Maple Leafs announced prior to Monday’s game that the Stanley Cup winner has been shut down through the All-Star break after sustaining a concussion on Jan. 15.
“(Medical staff is) going to continue to monitor him and work with him with hopes to ramp things up again as we get back from the break, and perhaps even throughout the break, in his case,” Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said.
“I would say my concern level is right where it should be, in terms of anytime a player has a head injury, the concern is significant. But I believe he’s on the right track. When he’s ready to play, we’ll welcome him back.”
–Field Level Media
