New York. There’s a character in this year’s Toronto Maple Leafs edition.
That was evident when, despite injuries, illnesses, and a sweaty road trip schedule, they turned around and won against the New Jersey Devils in Timo Meyer’s home debut last night.
“We didn’t start well at all, but we kept fighting and it paid off,” top scorer Kale Jarnkrock told Sportbladet after the 4-3 win.
On paper purportedly, there wasn’t much talk of the Maple Leafs going into a home game against the Devils.
Several players are gone
Super signing Ryan O’Reilly was gone again with a broken finger, John Tavares was sick, Luke Shinn was stuck in Vancouver waiting for a baby – and the odd little detour to Newark was the final stop on an eleven-week western US-Canada journalist road trip. days.
– Yes, it’s a bit stressful with such long trips, especially with the time difference. But it just gets old, Callie Jarnkrock says with a wry smile when we meet him inside the Prudential Center.
– So we didn’t start well at all in this match either.
No, the Devils had a solid advantage in the beginning and won the shots in the first period by 16-5. But they didn’t score, despite numerous chances, not the least of which was Timo Meyer – the Swiss shooting king who played his first home game for the new club since the three from San Jose.
Instead, it was the visitors who leveled the scoreline during a more lively second period – and Jarnkreuk was not responsible for the break. Coming cleanly into the goal area, he picked up a brilliant pass from compatriot William Nylander from space behind the penalty area and dusted it off with his 14th goal of the season.
– It was really appropriate. It’s easy when you play with Willie. What a season he’s had, the 31-year-old host continues.
Greetings to Nylander
Eric Hola had time to tie the hosts before the second period and was knocked out in the third. The Leafs took an early 2-1 lead, but the Devils overturned it to make it 3-2, after which Michael Ponting equalized – then Auston Matthews scored on a power play with less than three minutes left, also with an assist from Nylander.
– Yeah, he was pretty swinging in the third. But we kept fighting and it paid off, Järnkrok points out.
Jesper Boqvist had the help of the Devils – who lost ground in the hunt for first place in the Metropolitan table. Meanwhile, Carolina won a penalty shootout over the Montreal Canadiens, after Jesper Fast tied the score at 3-3 at the end of the third period.