Jack Hughes produced his third career hat trick Tuesday night, leading the visiting New Jersey Devils to a 5-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs. Hughes flicked his third goal into an empty net at 19:30 of the third period to seal the fifth win in a row for the Devils and the second straight loss for the Maple Leafs (0-1-1). Cody Glass and Brenden Dillon also scored for the Devils, and Jesper Bratt supplied three assists. Jake Allen stopped 23 shots. John Tavares had a goal and an assist for the Maple Leafs. Matias Maccelli added a goal while William Nylander contributed two assists. Anthony Stolarz made 30 saves. Tavares rammed in the rebound from Oliver Ekman-Larsson's point shot to open the scoring at 6:36 of the first. Tavares' 498th career goal came 1:15 after Hughes rang the left goal post with a wrist shot. Hughes tied the game with a shot from the high slot at 1:27 of the second. Toronto challenged unsuccessfully — claiming goaltender Interference — and that resulted in a minor penalty. Glass scored with a 9-foot wrist shot on the power play at 3:20 of the second. Earlier in the power play, Toronto defenseman Chris Tanev went to the dressing room after sustaining an upper- body injury during a pileup near the net. He did not return. New Jersey took a 3-1 lead on Dillon's 31-foot wrister at 4:54 of the second after a Toronto turnover resulted in a 3-on-1 break. Toronto pulled within 3-2 at 7:03 of the second when Maccelli was unchecked in front of the net and Nylander fed him to finish a 2-on-1 rush. Hughes restored the two-goal lead at 16:17 of the second after Bratt's stretch pass put him in the clear for a slap shot. The Devils continued to control play in the third. The Maple Leafs got a lifeline when they went on the power play at 15:44 of the third. Toronto had two shots on the power play but failed to take advantage when Allen lost his stick. Allen made a superb blocker stop on Morgan Rielly in the final minute. Toronto's top rookie, Easton Cowan, was a healthy scratch. –Field Level Media
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