Maple Leafs at Devils
THE STORY: The New Jersey Devils hope to take advantage of the porous defense of the Toronto Maple Leafs when the teams face off in New Jersey on Friday. The Devils, who have four of five at home, have scored five goals in their last five games. However, Toronto was outscored by 13-2 in its last two contests and has yielded five tallies or more in four of its last nine matches.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, Leafs TV (Maple Leafs), MSG Plus (Devils)
ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS (32-34-8): The coaching switch from Ron Wilson to Randy Carlyle has not made much of a difference as Toronto is 3-6-1 since the change March 2. The team's performance in Tuesday's 5-2 loss to the New York Islanders resulted in a chorus of boos from the crowd at the Air Canada Centre. Carlyle had no problem with the reaction. "We can't fault our fans for showing their displeasure," he said. Injured forward Joffrey Lupul was selected as the Maple Leafs' nominee for the Bill Masterton Trophy. Lupul, who is sidelined with a separated shoulder, has recorded a career-high 67 points in his first full season with Toronto after missing chunks of the previous two campaigns because of a pair of back surgeries and a blood infection.
ABOUT THE DEVILS (42-27-5): Ilya Kovalchuk scored his 400th career goal in Tuesday's 1-0 victory at Ottawa, reaching the milestone in his 771st NHL game. Only Teemu Selanne (700) and Jaromir Jagr (742) have needed fewer contests to net their 400th tally. There's a chance Travis Zajac could return Friday as he has been practicing with the team. Zajac, who has not played since Jan. 2 because of an Achilles tendon injury, wants to make sure he's ready before suiting up. "Ideally, I'd like to play as many games as possible before the playoffs without putting myself in a position where I don't feel right or feel comfortable," he said. "That's the main thing, trying to balance the right time to play."
OVERTIME:
1. Toronto has lost each of its last five meetings with Atlantic Division opponents, while New Jersey has won five of six against teams from the Northeast.
2. The Maple Leafs have earned at least one point in seven of their last eight matches (4-1-3) against the Devils.
2. The road club has won five of the last six games in the all-time series.