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Devils down Maple Leafs to halt skid

Dec 5, 2014 - 6:37 AM Toronto, ON (SportsNetwork.com) - Mike Cammalleri's tiebreaking power-play goal late in the second period helped the New Jersey Devils stop a five-game losing streak with a 5-3 decision over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Despite playing without Jaromir Jagr due to a bout with the flu, the Devils had little trouble producing offense. Steve Bernier and Eric Gelinas both recorded a goal and an assist, with Stephen Gionta and Adam Henrique also lighting the lamp to back a 28-save effort from Cory Schneider.

"I thought we came and played an honest game," Devils head coach Peter DeBoer said. "We got a lead, which was important, and then we played our game."

Jonathan Bernier managed just 21 saves for Toronto, which entered Thursday's matchup 4-0-1 over its last five outings. Mike Santorelli had a goal and an assist in the loss.

"Plain and simple, I thought we got outworked tonight," said Toronto head coach Randy Carlyle. "They were physically involved in the game to a much higher level than we were."

The Maple Leafs forged a 2-2 tie on Nazem Kadri's short-handed tally with 8:46 left in the second period, but the Devils capitalized on another power-play chance later in the frame to move in front to stay.

Gelinas blasted a shot that went wide of the net during the 5-on-4 situation, but the puck went right to Cammalleri and the veteran promptly fired it into the net 3:12 prior to the second intermission.

Steve Bernier gave New Jersey some breathing room when he poked in a rebound of Marek Zidlicky's initial attempt 6:12 into the third. Henrique made it a 5-2 advantage later on by scoring off a Toronto turnover in the Maple Leafs zone.

Phil Kessel made the outcome a bit more respectable for Toronto by knocking in a loose puck on a power play with 34.2 seconds left to play.

The Devils got off to a fast start, causing an interference penalty on Toronto's Cody Franson just over four minutes in and converting the opportunity when Gelinas beat Jonathan Bernier with a wrister that appeared to deflect off the skate of teammate Tuomo Ruutu.

Schneider made the lead stand after one period by making 13 saves, but couldn't stop Santorelli's perfect redirection of Joffrey Lupul's drive that tied it at 1-1 with 5:37 elapsed in the second.

Gionta put New Jersey back in front less than 2 1/2 minutes later, skating to the net to put a pass from Jordin Tootoo between Jonathan Bernier's pads.

Another penalty to Franson gave the Devils an opportunity to extend the margin later in the period, but a Toronto takeaway in the neutral zone led to a short-handed rush in which Kadri followed up his own shot by connecting on the second attempt.

Game Notes

The Devils finished 2-for-3 on the power play after going 0-for-8 over their previous two games ... Zidlicky registered the 299th and 300th assists of his career, with Michael Ryder and Jon Merrill also notching a pair of helpers for New Jersey ... The Maple Leafs are 10-0-0 when scoring first this season and 3-9-3 when giving up the initial goal ... In addition to Jagr, the Devils were without forward Patrik Elias (groin) and defenseman Adam Larsson (illness).