Devils come up short to Maple Leafs in Toronto
NHL.com
TORONTO (AP) -Jonas Gustavsson made 29 saves, and Mikhail Grabovski, Phil Kessel and Kris Versteeg scored in the Toronto Maple Leafs' 3-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night.
Dainius Zubrus scored for the Devils (5-12-2), notching his second of the season.
Gustavsson filled in for Jean-Sebastien Giguere, sidelined by a strained groin.
The mounting problems for New Jersey might have got bigger. Already hampered by injuries, goalie
Martin Brodeur was replaced by
Johan Hedberg after two periods - although no reason for the change was provided. Brodeur watched the final 20 minutes from the end of the bench.
Versteeg scored on Hedberg with less than 7 minutes to play to ice the victory. He one-timed a shot on the power play from the left circle at 13:17.
A game between two of the lowest-scoring teams in the NHL delivered as expected - tight-checking hockey with little offensive flair.
The Leafs' power play also accounted for the game's opening goal. Brodeur kicked out a big rebound that Grabovski hammered home at 1:42 of the second period.
Kessel made it 2-0 after being thwarted on a couple good opportunities earlier in the game. Standing alone at the side of the goal, he took a nice pass from Kadri and beat Brodeur at 6:29.
The Devils narrowed the lead before the end of the period with a goal Gustavsson could have stopped. Zubrus had Alexander Vasyunov's shot go off his skate and through the Swedish goalie's legs at 10:14.
| Three star selections |
| 1st: |
JONAS GUSTAVSSON |
| 2nd: |
PHIL KESSEL |
| 3rd: |
MIKHAIL GRABOVSKI |
Winning Goaltender
Jonas Gustavsson
|
Losing Goaltender
Martin Brodeur
|