Devils' 6-5 Win vs. Maple Leafs: Power Up

The New Jersey Devils' power play had one of its best performances of 2023-24 in the 6-5 win over the Maple Leafs.

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The New Jersey Devils got badly outplayed in all three games against the Toronto Maple Leafs this season. But somehow, they came away with two wins. Despite getting heavily outshot and out-chanced, the Devils came away with a 6-5 victory over the Maple Leafs, thanks to their power play. Here are three takeaways from the game. 

Devils Power Play Was Lights Out

I was joking when I tweeted, "Was Jack Hughes actually the problem for the Devils' power play?" But I think there is a little bit of truth to it. It's less about Hughes and more about the other four skaters on the first unit. They sometimes get caught puck-watching and waiting for Hughes to do something brilliant. That, in turn, leads to Hughes sometimes forcing things and trying to do too much. 

But that was far from the case last night. With the game tied 2-2, the Devils drew a power play with about eight minutes left in the first period. What we saw on that first man advantage was a sign of things to come. 

The Devils' puck and player movement was as crisp as it's been all season on that first power play. Luke Hughes, Jesper Bratt and Timo Meier were all making quick one-touch passes to each other before Bratt set up Meier for a one-timer that he put past Ilya Samsonov. The rest of the unit wasn't standing still, either. They were moving around and keeping the Leafs on their toes. 

The Devils' second power play wasn't going as well until it was. With 14 seconds left in the second period, Nico Hischier won a draw back to Meier with some help from Dawson Mercer and Bratt. Meier then launched another one-timer past Samsonov to tie the game at 4-4. 

And the Devils' third power play may have been the most impressive. It started with a relatively clean zone entry from Bratt, something the team has had trouble with on the power play this season. Meier, Bratt and Hughes then got to work again, and there was some great connectivity between the three.