The Leafs snapped their three game winless streak tonight with a 4-1 decision over the New Jersey Devils in front of a small crowd, due to the heavy snow storm that hit New Jersey earlier today. The Devils announced that only 5,329 people were in attendance at the Prudential Centre. The PA Announcer in the building informed the fans in attendance that they were permitted to move down to seats closer to ice level.
Colby Armstrong opened the scoring for Toronto at 13:50 when he snapped his second of the season over the shoulder of Devils' goaltender Martin Brodeur. John Mitchell was accessed with two consecutive infractions for high sticking and interference in the first period, but made up for it with his second of the season on a rebound created by Kris Versteeg. Carl Gunnarsson was credited with the second assist of the play.
A big hit by Dion Phaneuf in the defensive zone sparked Ilya Kovalchuk to initiate a rare fight with the aggressor. Phaneuf and Kovalchuk had been agitating one another throughout the game.
Leafs forward Nikolai Kulemin gave his team a demanding 3-0 lead by firing a shot past Martin Brodeur for his 12th goal of the season. He is on pace for a career-best 29 goals and 54 points, far exceeding his previous best of 16 goals and 36 points one year ago. Devils backup goaltender Johan Hedberg entered the game in relief of Martin Brodeur, who surrendered 3 goals on 14 shots.
After killing off a penalty committed by Mikhail Grabovski, the Leafs had a 32-second 5-on-3 advantage with two Devils' forwards in the box. They managed to kill off both infractions to remain within three goals of Toronto.
Rod Pelley scored his first of the season on a powerplay, but Colby Armstrong's second of the game at 16:47 of the third period silenced the Devils. His shot squeeked through the legs of Johan Hedberg, who was in position to stop the shot, but left his five-hole open.
Jonas Gustavsson proved up to the task as the Leafs starting goaltender, stopping 29 of 30 shots he faced. The defense in front of him made several defensive zone errors, including reoccuring turnovers in the slot. However, the Leafs secondary scoring continued their consistent play. Kris Versteeg added two assists, while Clarke MacArthur earned one assist to give him 27 points in 34 games this season.
Toronto's next game is against the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday in Toronto. They are expected to stay over in New Jersey until tomorrow and return to Toronto once the Newark Airport re-opens following the torrid snowstorm that hit the entire area.
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