Jack Hughes scored his third career hat trick to power the New Jersey Devils to a 5-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Oct. 21, 2025, at Scotiabank Arena. The win extended New Jersey's streak to five games, matching their longest since January 2023. Hughes now has six goals in his past three games.
The Toronto Maple Leafs opened the scoring at 6:36 of the first period when John Tavares swatted a rebound of Oliver Ekman-Larsson's point shot past Devils goaltender Jake Allen, giving Toronto a 1-0 lead. Tavares' goal was his 498th of his career, leaving him two shy of 500.
In the second period, Jack Hughes tied the game 1-1 at 1:27 with a shot from the slot, screened by Ondrej Palat. The Leafs challenged for goaltender interference on Anthony Stolarz, but the goal stood, resulting in a penalty to Toronto. On the ensuing power play, Cody Glass scored at 3:20, burying a rebound from Timo Meier's shot to make it 2-1. Brenden Dillon extended the lead to 3-1 at 4:54 on a wrister from the high slot during a 4-on-1 rush, assisted by Luke Glendening and Arseni Gritsyuk.
Matias Maccelli pulled Toronto within one at 7:03, scoring on a 2-on-1 pass from William Nylander for his first goal with the Leafs since a June 30 trade from Utah. Hughes restored the two-goal margin at 16:17 with a slap shot from the left circle, beating Stolarz to the short side.
The third period saw no scoring until the final minute, when the Leafs pulled Stolarz. Hughes sealed his hat trick with an empty-net goal at 19:30, assisted by Jesper Bratt, for the 5-2 final. Allen made 23 saves, while Stolarz stopped 30.
New Jersey coach Sheldon Keefe earned his first win against his former team, saying, "It feels a lot better coming out on the winning side." Hughes added, "Five is a real good start for us." Toronto's Auston Matthews noted inconsistency: "Sloppy at times and then this roller coaster of consistency."
Leafs defenseman Chris Tanev left with an upper-body injury after a second-period collision and may miss time. Bratt recorded three assists, extending his point streak to six games.