Nylander lost control of the puck in front to Devils defenseman Damon Severson, who inadvertently chipped the puck past Mackenzie Blackwood.
“It was a harmless play, but I put it completely, accidently, into the goalie and obviously he was not expecting it on the play,” Severson said. “I was just trying to protect the puck and then get it out of harm’s way. I just hit it by accident into our own net.”
[WATCH: All Maple Leafs vs. Devils highlights]
John Tavares had a goal and two assists and Michael Hutchinson made 24 saves for the Maple Leafs (21-14-4), who have won eight of their past nine games.
Toronto rookie forward Ilya Mikheyev, who scored his fourth goal in six games in the first period, left at 9:20 of the third after he was cut on his right wrist by the skate blade of Devils forward Jesper Bratt. Mikheyev had surgery to repair an artery and severed tendons; the Maple Leafs said he will be out for at least three months.
“First and foremost, we’re thinking about [Ilya]. It was obviously scary, seeing that much blood,” Tavares said. “He’s a guy we care deeply about and was having a great night, playing tremendous for us, so [our] thoughts are with him.”
Video: TOR@NJD: Mikheyev deflects home Tavares’ shot
Linemates Kyle Palmieri, Nico Hischier and Bratt each had a goal and two assists, and Blackwood made 32 saves for the Devils (12-19-6), who are 1-2-1 in their past four games.
Tavares scored a power-play goal when he redirected Nylander’s pass the right post to tie it 4-4 at 8:15 of the third period.
“It wasn’t pretty overall, but we just kept staying with it,” Tavares said. “I think we know over the last couple of games that we’ve got to tighten up at times. At the same time, I think we’ve controlled play a lot and generated offense. We just have to be smarter with the puck at times and understand teams are trying to really sit on those counterattacks when we sustain a lot of possession. We’ve got to be aware of teams going the other way.”
Video: TOR@NJD: Tavares taps in feed from Nylander for PPG
Hischier gave New Jersey a 1-0 lead on a snap shot from the slot at 4:33 of the first period. Zach Hyman scored a power-play goal on a rebound at 16:56 of the first to tie it 1-1, and Mikheyev scored 19 seconds later on a redirection in the slot to give Toronto a 2-1 lead.
Nikita Gusev tied it 2-2 with a power-play goal at 1:42 of the second period, but Kasperi Kapanen put Toronto in front 3-2 with a snap shot top shelf from the right face-off dot at 5:16.
Palmieri scored off a turnover to tie it 3-3 at 7:01, and Bratt gave the Devils a 4-3 lead at 10:11 when he took a pass from Palmieri and scored with a wrist shot from the left circle.
Video: TOR@NJD: Bratt finishes the feed from Palmieri
They said it
“Our attention to detail and systems have been really good (during the streak). We’ve controlled the puck a lot, have had some really good shifts in the offensive zone creating good scoring chances and making the other team’s goalie have to really make some good saves to keep their team in it. The guys are getting more comfortable within the systems and putting together longer stretches each game where we control the puck and the tempo of the game a lot more.” — Maple Leafs goalie Michael Hutchinson
“It’s a player trying to do the right thing with the puck in an area where it’s not dangerous and it just came off of his stick wrong. Is it frustrating to lose that way? Yes, but we can’t fault the player. He’s trying to do the right thing. I guarantee you [Severson] is not trying to put the puck in the back of our net. It was just an unfortunate bounce.” — Devils coach Alain Nasreddine
Video: TOR@NJD: Gusev wires home wrist shot for the PPG
Need to know
Devils defenseman Will Butcher did not play the final 7:22 because of an undisclosed injury. … Nylander also had two assists. … Mitchell Marner led the Maple Leafs in ice time at 24:41 but had his eight-game point streak end. … Hyman has seven points (three goals, four assists) in his past three games. … Devils center Pavel Zacha was a late scratch because of a lower-body injury and was replaced by Kevin Rooney, who had one takeaway in 10:17 of ice time.
Video: EA Sports Overtime Winner: Nylander seals win in OT
What’s next
Maple Leafs: Host the New York Rangers on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, CBC, SN1, SNO, SNW, SNP, MSG+, NHL.TV)
Devils: At the Ottawa Senators on Sunday (5 p.m. ET; RDS2, TSN5, MSG, NHL.TV)
Video: Nylander, Tavares lead Maple Leafs to OT victory
