Brown ties it late, Devils rally for shootout win against Maple Leafs

NEWARK, N.J. -- Connor Brown scored the tying goal with 2:21 remaining in the third period for the New Jersey Devils, who rallied for a 4-3 shootout win against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Prudential Center on Wednesday.

Brown tied it 3-3 when he chipped the puck over Anthony Stolarz's glove off a centering pass from Arseny Gritsyuk as he crashed the net.

"We deserved that game," Brown said. "I thought we piled it on, their goalie played well, and couldn't really get one to bounce our way so to be able to claw our way back was big."

Gritsyuk had a goal and an assist, and Nico Hischier had two assists for the Devils (31-29-2), who have won three straight after five losses in a row. Jacob Markstrom made 24 saves in his second straight start after a 5-1 win against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday.

"I like to play hockey games; I want to play them all," Markstrom said. "[Jake Allen] has been unbelievable for us all year and I understand the dynamic that you can't play them all, but obviously I want to play as much as I can. It's fun being out there."

Paul Cotter and Jesper Bratt scored in the shootout and Markstrom stopped William Nylander and Auston Matthews to clinch the win.

"We have iPads of every shootout that goalie has participated in the past, so seeing their tendencies based on certain moves, you should be able to kind of gather what move in your arsenal should be able to work on them," Cotter said. "I mean, you can only prepare so much but you kind of know what's going on before you go down."

The Devils were without defenseman Brett Pesce, who sustained a lower-body injury against the Panthers on Tuesday.

Nylander, Matias Maccelli, and Matthew Knies each scored for the Maple Leafs (27-24-11), who have lost five straight (0-3-2) and 11 of their past 14 (3-8-3). Stolarz made 44 saves.

Forwards Scott Laughton and Bobby McMann and defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson did not play for roster management purposes.

"It's tough," Toronto coach Craig Berube said. "We want to win games and when you come to the rink and there's three important players that aren't in the lineup, it's going to impact the guys but I thought the guys came out and were ready to play. I thought our captain (Matthews) led the way tonight."

Matthews had one assist and six shots on goal in 24:57 of ice time.

Maccelli gave Toronto a 1-0 lead on a wrist shot from the slot at 5:26 of the first period.

Timo Meier scored his third goal in five games for New Jersey, making it 1-1 on a snap shot from the left hashmark at 7:55.

Nylander scored on a deflection off his lower back at the left post while on the power play at 3:20 of the second period to give the Maple Leafs a 2-1 lead.

"I like playing in this building," said Stolarz, who was born in Edison, New Jersey. "They knew from the beginning that they were just going to throw pucks at the net so I had to stay loose, stay ready, control the rebounds and do my best to fight them off."

Gritsyuk tied it 2-2 with his second goal in as many games with a one-timer just after a Devils penalty had expired at 6:06 of the second.

"We have the mentality that anything can happen right now and we can still jump back into it," Knies said. "That should be our focus. We won't hang our heads low."

Knies gave the Maple Leafs a 3-2 lead when he batted the puck into the net from the right post at 13:50 of the third period.

"There was a lot of chatter on the bench when they went ahead," New Jersey coach Sheldon Keefe said. "The overriding feeling was that we're fine. We've been dominating the third period so just stay with it and that was really good to see. Then we backed it up by going out, tying the game. So, I was really happy with how we just stayed with it in that moment."

NOTES: The Devils ended a nine-game losing streak against the Maple Leafs at Prudential Center. ... Luke Hughes assisted on Brown's goal to earn his 99th NHL assist in his 207th game. He's on pace to become the second-fastest defenseman in Devils/Colorado Rockies/Kansas City Scouts history to record 100 NHL assists, after Brian Rafalski (204 games). ... Forward John Tavares had an assist to become the eighth-fastest player in Maple Leafs history to record 300 assists with the franchise (577 games), and the second-fastest in the past 25 years, after Mitch Marner (411 games). He also became the 10th player in NHL history to record 300 assists with multiple franchises (also with New York Islanders).