NEWARK, N.J. _ The last time the Toronto Maple Leafs were at Prudential Center, the Devils were skating off the ice as a playoff team.
How times have changed.
There were bad bounces and bad breaks for the Devils, but ultimately they dug themselves into a hole too deep against one of the best teams in the league in a 7-2 loss.
Mackenzie Blackwood made his NHL debut, taking over for Keith Kinkaid at the start of the third period. Blackwood stopped eight of 10 shots in the third period and Kinkaid made just 16 saves over 40 minutes
The Devils were already down 5-1 when Blackwood took over after Morgan Reilly scored with one second left in the second period. He was left untouched at the top of the circle and beat Kinkaid with a one-timer.
Kinkaid has been shouldering a hefty load for the Devils all season with Cory Schneider struggling and now injured and the skaters in front of him didn't make his job any easier in the first period. The Leafs scored twice in the first eight minutes with former Islanders' forward John Tavares opening the scoring and the Devils lost a challenge on the second goal.
Auston Matthews finished off a goalmouth scramble to make it 2-0 at 7:58, but the Devils challenged the call saying the Toronto center interfered with Kinkaid by shoving Damon Severson into him. But the NHL Situation Room determined, "Matthews' contact with Severson did not by itself impact Kinkaid's ability to make the save," and the call on the ice stood.
New Jersey fell behind 3-0 at 13:38 in the first after Patrick Marleau slipped a rebound from a shot by Nazem Kadri under the pad of Kinkaid. It was almost too easy for Marleau, who was right on the doorstep.
Sami Vatanen cut the lead to 3-1 with 16 seconds left in the first when he rocketed a point shot past goalie Frederik Andersen, his former Anaheim Ducks teammate. But Mitch Marner scored 1:45 into the second period and the Devils never recovered.
Nico Hischier made it 5-2 with 5:13 left but, Tyler Ennis scored twice to push the game well out of reach.
It was yet another ugly loss that followed a streak of two good games for New Jersey, highlighting their inability to string together consecutive wins.
