Mark Fayne scored 1:18 into overtime as the New Jersey Devils beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 on Tuesday.
Fayne’s shot from the point was going to go wide of the net but Leafs goaltender Jonas Gustavsson decided to play the puck. The shot deflected in off Gustavsson’s arm.
Petr Sykora had a goal and an assist for New Jersey (35-20-4), while David Clarkson and former Maple Leafs forward Alexei Ponikarovsky also scored. The Devils have now won four games in a row.
Phil Kessel’s 31st goal of the season forced overtime for Toronto (29-24-7) with 44 seconds left in the third period. Tim Connolly scored in the first period, while Clarke MacArthur had a goal in the second.
Martin Brodeur made 29 saves for the win, while Gustavsson stopped 28 for the Leafs.
Kessel’s goal came as a result of the forward crashing the net. After Brodeur stopped Tyler Bozak’s rush up the left side and despite some pressure from the Devils defence, Kessel got his stick to bang in the rebound.
Not long after Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf got out of the penalty box after a tripping penalty, the Devils jumped in front.
Standing behind the net, Adam Henrique found Sykora with a backhand pass. Some poor checking by the Leafs gave Sykora the time to get two cracks at it.
Gustavsson couldn’t hold onto the initial shot and Sykora rounded the helpless goaltender before backhanding in his 14th of the season at 9:44.
The Devils doubled their advantage on a shot that once again really shouldn’t have gone in. Clarkson fended off Matthew Lombardi on the right side as he crossed into the Leafs zone before putting a low shot past Gustavsson at 14:16.
Clarkson took exception to a Phaneuf hit on Devils captain Zach Parise, and the two fought at the 16:36 mark of the first period.
Just 32 seconds after the Devils second goal, the Leafs got one back. Standing in front of the Devils net, Connolly reached out with his stick to deflect a Cody Franson shot from the point past Brodeur and make it 2-1.
Some good forechecking helped get the Leafs back level with just over five minutes remaining in the second.
Mikhail Grabovski stopped an attempted Devils clearance at the blue-line. He then found Nikolai Kulemin who passed to MacArthur in front to put away his 18th of the season.
Ponikarovsky gave the Devils a 3-2 lead with under two minutes remaining in the second.
Stars 3, Canadiens 0: At Montreal, Ryan Garbutt scored his first NHL goal and Kari Lehtonen made 31 saves as Dallas shut out of the Canadiens.
Carey Price stopped 33 shots for the Canadiens (24-27-10), who have dropped four of their last five after a four-game winning streak.
Flyers 5, Jets 4 (OT): At Winnipeg, Jaromir Jagr scored at 4:16 of overtime to lift Philadelphia over the Jets.
Penguins 2, Rangers 0: At Pittsburgh, Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 27 shots to tie Tom Barrasso’s franchise record for career shutouts with 22 and carry the Penguins past New York.
Blue Jackets 6, Sharks 3: At Columbus, Ohio, Jeff Carter had three goals — two on the power play during Columbus’ four-goal first period — and the last-place Blue Jackets handed San Jose its season-high fourth straight loss.
Lightning 3, Ducks 2: At Tampa, Fla., Steven Stamkos scored his league-leading 41st and 42nd goals of the season and added an assist as Tampa Bay beat Anaheim.
Sabres 2, Islanders 1: At Buffalo, N.Y., Ryan Miller made 30 saves, including stopping Matt Moulson on the doorstep with 4:04 left, and led the Sabres over New York.
