Hildeby makes 23 saves in NHL debut, Maple Leafs defeat Devils

NEWARK, N.J. -- Dennis Hildeby made 23 saves in his NHL debut for the Toronto Maple Leafs in a 4-2 win against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on Thursday.

"I mean, it was a lot of emotions," the 23-year-old said. "I just wanted to make it like any other game for my performance sake. I tried to enjoy it as much as possible, but it was a little bit back and forth. I wanted to handle it and not get too emotional."

The loss spoiled the home coaching debut of New Jersey's Sheldon Keefe, who was fired by the Maple Leafs on May 9 after five seasons before being hired by the Devils 14 days later.

"I'm still adjusting to the red, and the blue and white is back again," Keefe said. "We're just trying to build our game. The opponent had a big say in the game tonight, but that was nowhere good enough. Not close to what we need or close to what we did in Prague."

The Devils opened the season with consecutive wins against the Buffalo Sabres on Oct. 4 and 5 in the 2024 NHL Global Series Czechia presented by Fastenal.

Steven Lorentz had a goal and an assist, and Max Pacioretty, Bobby McMann and John Tavares each scored for the Maple Leafs (1-1-0), who got their first win under coach Craig Berube.

"I thought [Hildeby] was just solid," Berube said. "I mean, he got tested. He came up big on their power play and I thought he made some real good saves. I'm very happy for him."

Hildeby is the fifth Maple Leafs goaltender in the past 20 years to win his first career start.

"I didn't sense any nerves at all," Berube said. "He looked fine before the game and looked pretty calm in net overall. He tracked the puck well, played it well."

Jesper Bratt and Timo Meier scored, and Jacob Markstrom made 18 saves for the Devils (2-1-0).

"I think we were playing a team today who's compete level was a lot higher than the ones we played in the two other games (in Prague)," Bratt said. "We weren't there mentally. We lost the majority of puck battles, and that means you don't play with the puck. They won the puck back, gained momentum and they got some goals at the right time."

The Maple Leafs, who took 48 shots in a 1-0 loss at the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday, scored three goals on 11 shots in the first period.

Pacioretty scored on a snap shot at 8:18 for a 1-0 lead. McMann pushed it to 2-0 on a shot from the right face-off circle at 11:29, and Lorentz made it 3-0 on a backhand from the slot at 14:46.

"[Berube] likes a little more old school, and it's a winning formula," Lorentz said. "You look back at the winning teams of the past, you have gifted players who can make plays and those guys are going to do their thing, but he also wants big bodies and guys who can skate and create that energy and the identity of the team.

"That's the kind of style that does well in the playoffs, and if you want a long season, guys are going to do that. Our bottom-six forwards were happy to do stuff like that."

Bratt cut it to 3-1 with a power-play goal at 19:18 of the first, scoring on a shot from the high slot.

Tavares made it 4-1 at 14:52 of the second period, skating between Dawson Mercer and Simon Nemec in the slot before scoring on a wrist shot.

"We want to play a heavy game. Wear teams down, force turnovers and be strong around their net," Tavares said. "We talk a lot about winning net fronts, and that certainly showed in the first period."

Meier pulled the Devils to within 4-2 on a wrist shot from the left circle at 19:54 of the second.

"We didn't get our feet moving, threw pucks away," Meier said. "We have to do a much better job, especially against a team like Toronto that has a lot of skill and will make you pay."

NOTES: Toronto had 27 blocked shots and was led by defenseman Jake McCabe (six blocks). ... The Maple Leafs have won eight straight road games against the Devils dating to Dec. 18, 2018.