Nico Hischier and his teammates delivered yet another message to their doubters Thursday.
Long a Metropolitan Division doormat, these New Jersey Devils — balanced, lightning-quick, mature and confident — are an entirely different animal.
The rest of the NHL, if it hasn’t already, should take note.
“We’re a really good team,” Hischier, who put his club up 2-1 in the second period, said following New Jersey’s latest statement win. “And we believe in each other.”
Sharangovich buried his fourth goal of the season on a rebound after Jack Hughes took the initial shot off an intercepted pass from Leafs captain John Tavares at the end of a long Toronto shift in the defensive zone.
WATCH | Sharangovich wins it in OT:
Yegor Sharangovich sunk the Maple Leafs 57 seconds into overtime to give New Jersey a 3-2 win.
“We get the puck back and you give it right back to them,” Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said.
“Can’t happen.”
‘We just don’t think about the streak’
Jesper Bratt had the other goal for the Devils (14-3-0), who have won 11 in a row for the third time in franchise history. The Florida Panthers had last season’s longest winning run at 13 contests.
“We just don’t think about the streak,” Sharangovich said. “We just think about the next game.”
New Jersey also snapped an eight-game losing streak against Toronto dating back to April 2018, and won at Scotiabank Arena for the first time since October 2017.
“Just finding ways, playing for each other,” said Devils winger Erik Haula, who set up Bratt’s equalizer in the first. “We’re playing as a group and we’re having a lot of fun.”
‘We beat ourselves at times’
Auston Matthews, with a goal and an assist, and William Nylander replied for the Leafs (9-5-4), who got 30 stops from Murray. Mitch Marner added an assist to push his point streak to 11 games, the longest active run in the NHL.
“We beat ourselves at times and gave them free goals,” Keefe said. “They didn’t beat themselves at all.
“That’s how you win 11 in a row — you don’t beat yourself.”
“Weird game,” Matthews said. “Especially in the third period down a goal, just couldn’t get much going. Big goal there to send it to overtime.
“But just a weird game, to be honest.”
Hischier snapped a 1-1 tie at 3:02 of the second on a 2-on-1 when he ripped his ninth upstairs.
Murray returns to action
Making his first home start for Toronto after suffering a groin/abductor injury in mid-October, Murray kept the deficit at one three minutes before the intermission when he robbed Hughes.
The Leafs went to their fifth power play with just over five minutes left in the third, but Vanecek robbed Matthews on a one-time chance before Nylander equalized late.
Matthews opened the scoring on the man advantage at 15:15 of the first thanks to some poor coverage in front of Vanecek.
But the Devils responded 24 seconds later following some equally suspect defensive structure that left Bratt alone in front to roof his seventh.
“We’re playing some really good hockey,” Hischier said. “It’s not going to be easy playing against us.”
Toronto learned that first-hand Thursday.