Knee Jerk Reaction: Leafs battle back for hard-fought OT win over Devils

The Toronto Maple Leafs started 2025 in strong form, winning five straight contests for their longest streak of the season, but it’s fair to say the results were better than the process over that stretch. Things can turn quickly with such thin margins in the NHL, and that process caught up to them after the winning streak was snapped, resulting in three straight regulation losses in which the team looked mostly lifeless.

With former coach Sheldon Keefe making his first trip back to Toronto since taking over the New Jersey Devils’ bench, the Leafs showed signs of the dynamic offensive team that Keefe deployed for several years, battling back after trailing multiple times to snap their three-game skid with a sorely needed 4-3 victory in overtime.

Head coach Craig Berube had the Leafs playing a stiffer brand of defence early in the season, with Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll forming arguably the best tandem in the NHL behind them through December, but their once high-octane offensive attack hasn’t shown up with any consistency to this point in the schedule. With that defensive structure loosening up a bit in recent weeks and Woll coming back down to earth, the Leafs’ offensive struggles became an even larger issue as the losses started to pile up.

An injury to John Tavares, who has been one of the Leafs’ offensive stars this season, created another hole up front for Berube’s squad, but it was Max Domi in his place against the Devils on Thursday who helped kickstart Toronto’s offence. With the Leafs down by one in the middle frame, Domi used his speed to take advantage of a misplayed puck by Devils defender Johnathan Kovacevic before spotting a struggling William Nylander alone in the slot. Nylander made no mistake, beating Jacob Markstrom short side to even things up at one apiece.

But, as has been the case too often as of late, the momentum generated by that tying goal was squandered shortly thereafter, and the Devils regained the lead on the power play exactly two minutes after the Nylander goal. Auston Matthews would tie the game once again nearly midway through the third period with a power play marker of his own, but once again, a poorly timed penalty by Oliver Ekman-Larsson allowed Nico Hischier to restore the Devils’ lead just over two minutes later.

With the way things had been going for the Leafs over their three-game losing streak, it felt like they had let another one slip away from them, but they continued to control the run of play at even-strength as they had for most of the night, and the captain came up clutch once again, firing his second goal of the night into the top corner with less than five minutes left on the clock.

Over the last several seasons, whether they were down by a goal or three goals in the late going, it never really seemed like the Leafs were out of a game, but we haven’t seen the furious comebacks or sustained offensive pressure in 2024-25 the same way we have in the past. For the Leafs to stick with it and not get deflated by bad penalties or unlucky bounces was an encouraging sign, regardless of the outcome once they got the game to overtime.

Nevertheless, the Leafs weren’t going to be denied in a game that they probably deserved the two points out of from the get-go, and they managed to complete the comeback with Nylander playing hero after taking a gorgeous breakaway feed from Mitch Marner in the extra period.

A three-game slide might not be a “big deal” in the grand scheme of things, but with the lifeless fashion in which they dropped those games, they needed a strong showing against the Devils to get back on track. Perhaps more importantly, they needed their big guns to come alive, and they did just that, with Matthews, Marner, and Nylander combining for four goals and seven points in what could stand as one of the Leafs’ most crucial victories of the regular season.