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Maple Leafs win, Devils' misery continues

Dec 27, 2010 - 4:31 AM Newark, NJ (Sports Network) - Colby Armstrong scored a pair of goals to lift the Toronto Maple Leafs over the struggling New Jersey Devils, 4-1, at Prudential Center.

John Mitchell and Nikolai Kulemin also lit the lamp for the Leafs, who snapped a three-game skid. Jonas Gustavsson made 29 saves for the win.

Rod Pelley scored the lone goal for the Devils, who have lost their first two games under interim head coach Jacques Lemaire, who is in his third tour of duty with New Jersey.

Martin Brodeur turned aside 11-of-14 shots over two periods before being replaced by Johan Hedberg, who allowed one goal on eight shots in the third. The Devils have dropped 10 of their 11 games in December.

Armstrong got the scoring started at the 13:50 mark of the first period. The Devils tried to clear the puck out of their own zone, but Brian Rolston's pass deflected off the stick of a Toronto player. The disc ended up in the slot for Armstrong, whose snap shot beat Brodeur.

Mitchell made it 2-0 at the 8:45 mark of the second stanza. Kris Versteeg made multiple nifty moves to find himself in front of the net. His shot from in close left a rebound for Mitchell, who chipped the puck home.

Toronto built a 3-0 lead with 2:37 left in the period when Kulemin took a pass from Clarke MacArthur and fired a shot into the back of the net from the left circle.

"We knew we had to play our game and gets pucks to the net," Versteeg said. "They're a pretty good team when they want to be. We tried to just go out there and get a quick start and get on them as quick as we could."

Pelley's power-play score got the Devils on the board at the 12:27 mark of the third. Mark Fayne controlled the puck at the right point and slid a pass to the left circle for Pelley, whose snap shot beat Gustavsson.

Armstrong lit the lamp for a second time with 3:13 remaining to make it a 4-1 game.

"I think everybody has a lack of confidence, starting from Marty out to the forwards," Devils winger Jamie Langenbrunner said.

Game Notes

This marked the 27th time in 35 games the Devils scored fewer than three goals...The Leafs beat the Devils, 3-1, on November 18...Toronto has taken four of the past five meetings with New Jersey...The Devils and Leafs went a combined 1-for-10 on the power play.