Anthony Stolarz steals one as Maple Leafs down Devils in OT

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The Maple Leafs wanted Anthony Stolarz to look good in front of his friends and family.  

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But the giant goaltender from Jackson Township, N.J., about 45 minutes south of Newark, wound up being the solo star. Left on his own far too much Tuesday night by teammates who spent the night chasing the high-energy Devils, Stolarz made 38 saves to support a rare goal by Pontus Holmberg and Auston Matthews’s 2-1 overtime winner.      

Stolarz made stops at 5-on-5, on a Nico Hischier breakaway, against the Devils’ NHL-leading power play and on a couple of short-handed chances.  

The Leafs, who mustered just 14 shots, have been limited to eight goals the past four games, but thanked their lucky stars that a flurry of power-play saves by Stolarz midway through the third period led to Holmberg’s goal. Fellow penalty killer Connor Dewar won a race to a puck and Holmberg followed with a routine shot that fooled Jacob Markstrom for his second of the year. 

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The Leafs avoided a season-worst three-game losing streak after Stolarz made a blocker save in the wide-open extra period and Matthews caught up to the rebound for the winner

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Already dealing with issues scoring at even strength, Toronto generated just two shots on its three power plays. 

Former Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe was looking for his first win against his old team after losing the home opener to Toronto under jet-lagged conditions in Finland.   

It took 20 shots in an impressive early blitz by the Devils, but they finally got on the board against Stolarz. Jesper Bratt turned a Leafs breakout back after John Tavares misfired and fed Ondrej Palat, an old nemesis from Toronto’s rivalry with Tampa Bay. 

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Matthews had numerous chances for the Leafs, including three early breakaways, two of them short-handed. Matthews was too winded on the first, in too deep on the second to get a better deke and missed again on the third. 

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Now that Max Pacioretty and Max Domi are back from injuries, Toronto’s new-look lines began with Domi introduced to new young centre Fraser Minten and checking winger Steven Lorentz on the third unit. Pacioretty was given another game up top with Matthews and Mitch Marner, while Matthew Knies joined Tavares and William Nylander. 

But coach Craig Berube was getting very little generated and by the end of the second period started rotating Minten, Nylander and Knies with Matthews and Marner. That frame also saw Pacioretty catch Jack Hughes with his head down coming out of the Devils zone before flattening him.      

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How the Devils weren’t leading after the first 20 minutes was a shocker. The Leafs were culpable with ineffective forechecking, lost draws in their end and soft passes getting picked off in dangerous areas. The worst part was New Jersey outshooting the Leafs power play 3-0 in its initial couple of tries with Toronto showing little zip

Stolarz also made an incredible, unconscious save when a clearing pass from behind him hit a Devil and went on goal.

The Leafs have a day to recover before facing three current non-playoff teams in four nights: Anaheim at home on Thursday and a back-to-back in Detroit on Saturday and at home to Buffalo on Sunday.

Lhornby@postmedia.com 

X: @sunhornby 

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