Devils clinch Stanley Cup playoffs berth for first time since 2012

NEWARK – The last five editions of the Stanley Cup playoffs have come and gone without notice in New Jersey. The Devils’ illustrious playoff history bookended by five-year postseason droughts.

But the drought is over. Victorious in a 2-1 contest against the playoff-bound Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night at The Rock, the Devils secured their first Stanley Cup playoff bid since 2012.

“I don’t think we were ever out of the playoff race the whole year. We were punching ourselves here tonight against a very good team and it’s awesome,” Devils captain Andy Greene said. “It’s cool. Now the real fun really begins.”

It was fan appreciation night and more than 16,500 fans appreciated every last second of Thursday night’s win, remaining in their seats well after the final buzzer chanting “We want the Cup."

It wasn’t the stars that carried the Devils to the franchise’s biggest win in over five years. On a night when Taylor Hall and Nico Hischier were neutralized, the Devils got the secondary scoring they needed.

Hall’s nine-game point streak came to an end but Patrick Maroon assisted on goals from Pavel Zacha and Miles Wood and Keith Kinkaid made 31 saves.

“We get contributions from everyone. We’re a four-line team,” Hall said. “I know much has been made about myself but we’re a team that really relies on everyone.”

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Where exactly the Devils (44-28-9, 97 points) will finish in the standings is yet to be determined. They have at least an Eastern Conference wild card spot secured, but dominoes will fall over the next few days.

“You could just feel how bad we wanted it,” coach John Hynes said. “And we were really happy with the fact that we won our way into the playoffs and that was really special. That was really something that was important to our team. We didn’t get it handed to us, we didn’t back into it, we won the game.”

Maple Leafs goalie Frederik Andersen had been a brick wall of sorts but the Devils kept hammering away to overcome an early 1-0 advantage and move ahead 2-1 for good in the second period.

Zacha netted the equalizer after picking up a turnover near the red line. He dished to Maroon on the boards and Maroon sent it right back to him for the wrister from the left circle 7:55 into the period.

A few minutes later, Michael Grabner had a quality chance to take a lead when he broke free from his defenseman and found himself all alone in the low slot. He tried to go five-hole on Andersen but the goalie denied him.

Finally, with just under three minutes left in the period, Andersen cracked. Maroon carried the puck around the net and sent a smooth backhand pass to Wood in the low slot for the finish. With the postseason firmly in their sights, the sellout crowd at Prudential Center roared as the scoreboard changed to 2-1.

While the Devils had the possession advantage in the first period, it was Andersen who had the ultimate advantage. The Devils outshot Toronto, 14-9, but Andersen stopped all 14 and it was the Leafs who ended the period on top 1-0 after a power play goal by William Nylander at 6:56, 12 seconds after a tripping penalty was awarded to Hischier.

Kinkaid had to stop a flurry of shots late in the third period. But the Leafs were never able to apply any sustained pressure, with the Devils able to break up long possessions.

“You sit there and say you want to have poise and control and make all of these plays, but they were on us pretty tough there,” Greene said. “Five, six, seven saves there that we needed and when the final buzzer went down that was pretty surreal.”