Devils at Maple Leafs
In the hockey hotbed that is Toronto, Mitch Marner has found himself firmly under the microscope in the wake of Auston Matthews' recent shoulder injury. Marner has shouldered the load in the interim, collecting six points since Matthews went down and eight in his past seven overall heading into the Toronto Maple Leafs' game against the visiting New Jersey Devils on Friday.
Marner's goal just nine seconds into the second period stood up as the game winner as Toronto posted its second straight victory and fourth in six outings with a 3-1 triumph versus Vegas on Tuesday. John Tavares picked up the primary assist on Marner's tally to extend his point streak to three games while fellow forward Nazem Kadri netted his third goal in five contests to seal the win. Victories have been few and far between for New Jersey, which has answered a sterling 4-0-0 start by falling for the seventh time in nine outings (2-6-1) with a disastrous 7-3 setback in Ottawa on Tuesday. "It's a commitment to detail and compete," Devils captain Andy Greene said. "It's like a yo-yo right now. We're up, we're down. We're up, we're down. That's mental. That's where we've got to focus and be ready and commit to our game style."
TV: 7 p.m. ET, MSG-Plus (New Jersey), TVAS, TSN4 (Toronto)
ABOUT THE DEVILS (6-6-1): Reigning Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall opened the scoring and Kyle Palmieri cleaned up a rebound for his team-leading 10th goal before the floodgates opened in Canada's capital city. New Jersey aims to turn the page with the return of Jesper Bratt, who has been sidelined all season as he recovered from a broken jaw sustained in Oct. 4 in Sweden. The 20-year-old Bratt recorded 13 goals and 22 assists in 74 games during his rookie season in 2017-18.
ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS (10-5-0): Known for sluggish starts, Frederik Andersen has hit the ground running out of the gate as he looks to improve upon a sterling 2017-18 season that saw him set a franchise record with 38 wins and finish fourth in the Vezina Trophy voting. "I, personally, feel good," said the 29-year-old Dane, who has yielded two goals or fewer in each of his last six games. "We're keeping a little bit more to the outside, which is helping me out, seeing the puck better and clearing the shooting lanes. It's not so many times I have to fight through traffic and, obviously, that makes my job easier." Andersen, who has made at least 30 saves in six of his eight victories this season, dropped two of three meetings with New Jersey in 2017-18 to see his career mark versus the club dip to 4-2-0 with one shutout, a 2.00 goals-against average and .937 save percentage.
OVERTIME
1. New Jersey G Keith Kinkaid is just 1-3-0 with a 3.57 goals-against average on the road as opposed to 5-1-1 with a 1.99 GAA at home.
2. Toronto C Patrick Marleau is riding a three-game point streak and sits at 599 assists for his career.
3. Devils RW Stefan Noesen, who has missed the past four games with a lower-body injury, and D Steven Santini (broken jaw) returned to practice Thursday.