It took four attempts, but New Jersey Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe has finally celebrated a victory over his former team, the Toronto Maple Leafs.
On Tuesday night, the Devils defeated the Maple Leafs, 5-2, at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. Jack Hughes (x3), Cody Glass, and Brenden Dillon scored for New Jersey, while John Tavares and Matias Maccelli found the back of the net for Toronto. Devils' goaltender Jake Allen made 23 saves on 25 shots.
"We are a year late, I would say from anything really meaning a whole lot," Keefe told NJD.TV. "I got a lot of people here who are waiting to talk to me, and a lot of people in the building, and it is a special place for me. Always will be. It certainly feels a lot better coming out on the winning side."
Tavares opened the scoring at 6:36, batting in a rebound in front of Allen. Toronto's former captain has four goals in his last five games against the Devils and 42 points in 53 career games.
The Devils absolutely dominated the first five minutes of the first period, with Hughes, Glass, and Dillon finding the back of the net. New Jersey's second goal came on the power play as Glass scored his second of the season for his 95th career NHL point.
The Maple Leafs responded to the Devils' three goals with their own as Maccelli scored his first of the season off a 2-on-1 odd man rush.
Jack Hughes scored his second goal at 16:17 off a feed from Bratt. It was the ninth slap shot goal of the 24-year-old's career. His second goal of the night marked his 27th career multi-goal game, which passed Claude Lemieux and Stephane Richer for the 5th most multi-goal games in franchise history.
The 24-year-old was not finished, as he hit the empty net with 30 seconds left in regulation to score his third career hat trick.
The Devils will conclude their first back-to-back of the season on Wednesday as they host the Minnesota Wild at Prudential Center at 7:00 p.m.
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