Devils' 5-2 Loss to Maple Leafs: Overmatched

The Jack Hughes-less New Jersey Devils were clearly overmatched in the 5-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

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The New Jersey Devils' 2023-24 season is coming to a close, and thankfully so. Now that Jack Hughes has been shut down for the season and will undergo shoulder surgery today, the final three games could look similar to last night's 5-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Here are three takeaways from the defeat. 

Allen Continues to Give the Devils a Chance

If there's a positive to take away from the close of this season, it'll be the play of Jake Allen. The Devils didn't acquire him to be the guy, especially for the 2024-25 season. But they did trade for him to be part of the solution, and with only three games left this season, I think we can safely say he can be part of the solution. 

Last night's game started slow, as the first period was pretty low-event. But the Maple Leafs found their legs in the second period and showed why they're a couple of tiers ahead of the Devils right now. They had an overwhelming majority of the play over the final two periods and finished controlling over 76 percent of the expected goals at five-on-five. 

Allen faced plenty of work over the final two periods, with the Maple Leafs firing 30 shots on goal and 14 high-danger chances at all strengths. He did let up three goals over this stretch, but he also made plenty of timely saves to keep the Devils in the game for as long as he could. 

Allen made a couple of impressive stops on Auston Matthews and John Tavares to start the second period. He denied Pontus Holmberg on a partial breakaway, turned aside Matthews on the doorstep, and made a sprawling save on Tavares to start the third. 

Unfortunately, there were just too many high-danger chances and quality looks getting to Allen. With how much work he faced and the Maple Leafs' finishing talent, it was going to be difficult for him to hold down the fort as he did the first time these two teams played a couple of weeks ago.