TORONTO — There was a time, not so long ago, the Toronto Maple Leafs were winning games because of their goaltending.
Lately, they’ve been winning in spite of it.
Jack Campbell is dipping into unchartered territory, and while you wouldn’t know it from his win-loss record, he’s been fighting it.
We’re not pinning the ugly hole the Maple Leafs dug themselves en route to a resounding 6-4 comeback victory to the cellar-dwelling New Jersey Devils on goaltending alone.
Not at all. There was much to dislike about the home team’s flat start and lacklustre engagement level through two periods.
But in allowing three goals on the first nine shots directed his way, Campbell was given the pull for just the second occasion all season. (The first was a mercy pull during October’s 7-1 debacle in Pittsburgh.)
The Leafs’ No. 1 earned himself a deserved trip to the All-Star Game in Las Vegas later this week. Ironically, since being selected to represent Toronto at the showcase, he has turned in four consecutive starts with a save percentage of .850 or worse.
Despite being drafted in the first round of 2010, Campbell has never been anointed a No. 1 coming out of an NHL training camp, nor played as minutes in a full season as he has in the first half of this one.
Dialled in leading up to Christmas, Campbell hasn’t looked nearly as sharp since recovering from his COVID quarantine and having his rhythm shaken by a string of postponed games.
Down 3-1 just nine minutes and 10 seconds into the game, Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe burned his timeout and tagged in Petr Mrazek, who would become the goaltender of record.
Pavel Zacha, Jesper Boqvist, Nathan Bastian and former Leaf Andreas Johnsson — in his long-awaited return to a familiar Scotiabank Arena — each scored for the Devils.
Auston Matthews busted a season-long four-game goal “drought” with a pair of pretty ones and a late gift. Matthews beat unsung callup goalie Akira Schmid clean low-blocker for the high slot and tipped a Morgan Rielly snapper in motion.
A third-period strike by Jason Spezza narrowed the gap, and the scorching-hot Mitchell Marner tied the contest.
Ilya Mikheyev deposited the winner shorthanded, thanks to a smartly executed 2-on-1 by puck carrier Alexander Kerfoot.
Matthews threw one into the empty net from his own zone to complete the hat trick.
Much like Saturday in Detroit, spotting their opponent leads of 3-1 and 4-2 did not prove too steep a mountain for the skill-at-will Maple Leafs to scale.
“It’s hard to get wins in this league, so we’ll take it any way we can get it,” Kerfoot said. “There’s lots of belief in this group.
“It’s a great sign for our group that we have that belief because I think that can take you a long way.”
The Maple Leafs and Devils dive directly into a rematch Tuesday night in New Jersey, their final game before the All-Star break.
Fox’s Fast 5
• Jake Muzzin has been ruled out of action at least through the All-Star break. That makes six games missed since suffering a concussion in St. Louis on Jan. 15. Thing is, Muzzin had been practising regularly with the team as recently as Friday. He did not appear at Monday’s skate.
“With the break upcoming, it’s a little easier to pull back,” Keefe said. “Any time a player has a head injury, the concern is significant, but I believe he’s on the right track. The medical team is on top of it, and we’ll do all we can to give him the best care possible.”
Certainly, there is no reason to be hasty here, considering Muzzin’s increased value come playoff time.
“You miss him in a lot of ways, but the head’s no joke,” Marner said. “We got to make sure that when he comes back, he’s fully ready to go.
“We don’t need anything hurting him in the future or even past hockey. He’s got a family and kids. There’s more important things than trying to battle through stuff like that.”
• It’s difficult to look back at Kyle Dubas’s 2020 trade of Andreas Johnsson for Joey Anderson as much more than a salary dump at this point.
Johnsson, 27, is now tied for second on the Devils in goals (11) and ranks third on the team in points (25). “Mango” is on pace for his first 20-goal campaign since he achieved that feat with the Leafs in 2018-19.
The younger Anderson, 23, has been a fixture in the AHL Marlies’ top six, but in his five career games with the big club in Toronto, he’s a fourth-liner still in search of a point.
• Condolences to Devils head coach Lindy Ruff, whose father, Leeson, passed away Friday at age 88. Assistant coach Alain Nasreddine filled in and will run New Jersey’s bench again Tuesday.
• Marner hasn’t turned in a poor performance since escaping protocol. With a three-point effort Monday, he has 12 points in six games since his return.
“You can’t really put into words what he means to this team,” Justin Holl says.
• Keefe abandoned his spread-offence lineup of forwards after just a game and a half and reverted back to something more familiar.
“It’s no secret that this is our optimal look,” Keefe said.
Here’s what optimal looks like:
Bunting-Matthews-Marner
Kerfoot-Tavares-Nylander
Mikheyev-Kämpf-Kase
Engvall-Spezza-Simmonds
Extras: Ritchie, Clifford
