Joffrey Lupul scores three to lead Toronto Maple Leafs to victory over New Jersey Devils 5-3-NHL Update
New Jersey had a chance to start off fresh in a new month and snap their two game losing streak which carried over from October, but Toronto had other plans as Joffrey Lupul scored three crucial game-winning goals, as the Maple Leafs extended the Devils
woes, 5-3, Wednesday night, November 2, 2011, at the Prudential Center in Newark, New York.
Veteran New Jersey goalie, Martin Brodeur, was playing in his third game of the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season ever since he sustained a shoulder injury on after their October 13 matchup against the Los Angeles Kings, which certainly
showed as he blocked only 18 of 23.
Knowing that coming back from an injury has its downside on performance, Lupul was determined to take advantage of that.
"Anyone, whether it's Marty Brodeur or not, if they're coming off an injury and haven't played for three weeks, you want to test that guy", Lupul said. "We thought in the first period he did look a little bit shaky like he'd been off for a while. We decided
to throw as many pucks as we could at him in the second and it paid off. He seemed to settle in a bit more as the game went on, but definitely when you have a goalie coming back off a layoff like that you want to try to utilize it".
Joey Crabb scored his first of the season nearly midway through the opening period while New Jersey’s, Dainius Zubrus, levelled up the contests during their first power play opportunity of the night nearly three minutes later.
Mikhail Grabovski fought for control and took the puck, firing it past Brodeur with 4:10 left to play, giving them a one point lead entering the second period.
Patrik Elias capitalised on another Toronto penalty as Joey Crabb served a penalty awarded to Maple Leafs goalie, Jonas Gustavsson, and equalised the match once again.
Joffrey Lupul scored his first of the night at the 6:31 mark of the second and with David Clarkson answering back to equalise the match nearly two minutes later, it seemed as if New Jersey had once again managed to kill the Toronto momentum, but it was far
from that.
Lupul scored two more straight for his first hat-trick of the season, nearly four minutes apart, ending the period 5-3 in favour of Toronto, which became the game-winners as both teams failed to pot any more during the last 20 minutes.
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