Jesper Bratt scored his second goal of the game with 1:14 left in regulation as the New Jersey Devils downed Toronto 6-5 on Thursday night as Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews added two goals of his own to give him an NHL-topping 68 on the season.
Timo Meier, with two goals and an assist, Erik Haula and Nolan Foote provided the rest of the offence for New Jersey (38-37-5). Jake Allen stopped 27 shots. Luke Hughes had two assists. Bratt added an assist for a three-point performance.
John Tavares, with two, and David Kampf had the other goals for Toronto (46-24-9). Ilya Samsonov made 14 saves. Max Domi and Mitch Marner chipped in two assists each.
William Nylander played the 600th regular-season game of his career for the Leafs, who suffered an ugly 6-3 loss to the Devils on home ice late last month before picking up a 5-2 road victory Tuesday.
Matthews’s 67th goal of the season in the first period was his 366th career goal, moving him past Dave Keon for third place on the all-time franchise list.
Keon, who starred for the Maple Leafs in the 60s and 70s, spent 15 seasons in Toronto, finishing with 365 goals in 1,062 games.
Matthews, who is in his eighth season with the club and has played 559 carer games, now sits behind only Darryl Sittler, who has 389 career goals with the Leafs, and Mats Sundin who finished with 420 goals.
His first period marker was also his 50th even-strength goal of the season, becoming the first player to hit that mark since Teemu Selanne did in the 1992-93 season.
Down 3-2 after a wild and sloppy first, Matthews scored his second of the evening and 68th of the campaign off an inch-perfect Domi pass at 7:59 before chants of “M-V-P!” rained down from the Scotiabank Arena stands.
The goal — his ninth in the last seven games — was the sniper’s 274th all-time at even strength to pass Mats Sundin for top spot in franchise history.
Matthews has a chance to reach the 70 goal mark in the Maple Leafs final home game of the season on Saturday night against Detroit. Failing that, Toronto closes out the season with back-to-back games in Florida against the Panthers and Lightning next week.
Looking to become the first player to reach 70 goals in more than three decades, Matthews’ current total is the most in the NHL since Mario Lemieux’s 69 in 1995-96.
Toronto is still looking to move up into second place in the Atlantic Division before the playoffs start April 20, while New Jersey is playing for pride and jobs next season.
Tied 4-4 through two periods, Matthews took a tripping penalty in the third and the Devils capitalized when Bratt beat Samsonov with this 26th at 11:03.
Tavares got things back level again with 4:47 left in regulation when he buried his second of the night — and 26th of the campaign — off a Morgan Rielly setup.
But the Devils responded with 74 seconds left on the clock when Bratt snapped his 27th off the rush.
The Leafs got a late power play for a 6-on-4 advantage, but couldn’t find the range.