Matthews scores No. 59 in Maple Leafs loss to Devils

TORONTO -- Auston Matthews scored his 59th goal of the season, but the Toronto Maple Leafs lost 6-3 to the New Jersey Devils at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday.

Nico Hischier had a goal and two assists, Jack Hughes scored twice, and Jesper Bratt and Curtis Lazar each had three assists for the Devils (36-33-4), who are 4-1-0 in their past five games. Jake Allen made 42 saves, including 24 in the first period.

“[Allen] gave us a good game again,” Hischier said. “He kept us in the game. They were all over us in the first period, for sure.”

William Nylander scored his 40th goal of the season, and Joseph Woll made 19 saves for the Maple Leafs (40-22-9), who have lost two straight and four of six (2-3-1).

“It was just really immature all the way through our game,” Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said. “I thought it was immature from our most experienced players and our leaders, and then our players who are immature, our inexperienced guys, made lots of mistakes here today.

“Hated lots about our game tonight, and hopefully the players hated it just as much or more than I do.”

Timo Meier tied it 3-3 at 5:35 of the second period, finishing a one-timer from the slot off a pass from Bratt, who had skated around the back of the net. It was Meier's 13th goal in his past 14 games.

“He’s just playing like the player we imagined,” New Jersey coach Travis Green said. “Power forward, big body, playing straight lines. He’s just playing well. His all-around game is good.”

Max Willman gave New Jersey a 4-3 lead 13:05. After Chris Tierney’s shot from top of the right circle was blocked in the slot, Willman got to the loose puck and scored from the top of the crease.

Jack Hughes pushed it 5-3 at 16:47 of the third period on a breakaway. He then scored into an empty net at 18:51 for the 6-3 final.

“I don’t know if anybody has ever got 75 shots in a game before, but I don’t think it happens. Usually things adjust and the opposition pushes back,” Keefe said. “The game kind of tidies up a little bit, but I just thought we got incredibly sloppy and careless. That’s disappointing. That hasn’t been us. We haven’t played that way for quite some time.”

Tyler Bertuzzi put the Maple Leafs up 1-0 at 1:04 of the first period, receiving a stretch pass from Max Domi and scoring on a breakaway.

Luke Hughes tied it 1-1 at 4:25. He carried the puck through the neutral zone and into the high slot before scoring glove side with a shot that went through the legs of Maple Leafs defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin.

Hischier put the Devils in front 2-1 at 17:56 when he took a pass from Bratt on a 2-on-1 and beat Woll blocker side from the left circle.

“We knew we could play a lot better,” Bratt said. “We went in with a lead, and obviously we knew we had to step up our game. We also knew that was their push that they probably had, and now it was for us to turn it around. We had been a team that has been down in games early, we know there’s a time for us to get up and get momentum in the game.”

New Jersey was outshot 25-10 in the first period.

“It’s just the nature of hockey, honestly. There’s so many variables in this game,” Allen said. “It’s so fast nowadays. Even compared to 12 years ago when I started it’s night and day difference. It’s just the nature of the beast. We’re going to have times where we’re going to hem teams in the zone like that, too, so it comes full circle."

Nylander tied it 2-2 at 3:14 of the second period when he skated into the right circle and beat Allen five-hole.

Matthews gave the Maple Leafs a 3-2 lead at 4:51. He took a stretch pass from Lyubushkin and fended off Simon Nemec before scoring short side from the left circle.

“You just have to have that killer instinct a little bit more, especially when you have a good first period like that," Matthews said. "You want to come out and stay on the hunt in the second, and I thought we kind of took a step back instead of a step forward."

NOTES: Matthews is one goal away from becoming the ninth player in NHL history to have multiple 60-goal seasons. ... Bratt had his sixth three-assist game this season.