On a night of firsts, Dennis Hildeby got the better of Sheldon Keefe on Thursday in Newark.
In his National Hockey League debut, Hildeby made 23 saves in the Maple Leafs net, helping lead Toronto to a 4-2 win, ruining Keefe’s initial game at the Prudential Center as coach of the Devils.
The Leafs shrugged off their season-opening shutout loss in Montreal 24 hours earlier, playing with determination and better execution in their first meeting with Keefe since he was fired by Toronto in May.
“You leave him alone, especially a goalie,” Leafs coach Craig Berube told media in Newark before the game when he was asked whether he had any advice for Hildeby. “He knows what he is doing.”
Indeed, it looked that way for the 23-year-old Swede. The 6-foot-7 Hildeby was calm and sharp throughout the game, with his best save coming on Jack Hughes at the top of the crease in the first period.
Toronto carried a 4-2 lead into the third period after each club scored once in the second, a score that would stand for Berube’s first win as Leafs coach.
John Tavares restored a three-goal Leafs lead when he took a pass from Max Domi, stepped around Dawson Mercer and snapped a shot over goalie Jacob Markstrom’s glove at 14:52.
New Jersey scored with six seconds left in the period when Timo Meier got a shot to squeeze under Hildeby’s right arm.
The Leafs provided Hildeby with a nice cushion in the first period, scoring three goals in less than seven minutes to take a 3-0 lead.
tap here to see other videos from our team.
Max Pacioretty’s first goal with the Leafs — and the first Toronto goal of 2024-25 — came at 8:18 when he swatted a loose puck past Markstrom. A burst by Nick Robertson, who didn’t get an assist, into the offensive zone got the play going.
Next was Bobby McMann, a healthy scratch in Montreal, beating Markstrom from a distance at 11:29 with a shot that probably should have been stopped. McMann took the lineup spot of Ryan Reaves, who was scratched.
The fourth line struck again at 14:46 when Steven Lorentz went high with a backhand over Markstrom’s left shoulder.
The only blemish for the Leafs came in the final minute when the Devils’ Jesper Bratt scored on a power play when Pontus Holmberg failed to clear the puck.