Leafs rally late again in win over Devils, Matthews nets hat trick

TORONTO — The Maple Leafs hit the midseason mark of the season with another dramatic come-from-behind win, a six-game goal-scoring streak from Mitch Marner and a hat trick from Auston Matthews.

But as good as the 6-4 victory felt for the home side against the New Jersey Devils to extend their win streak to four games, there were a couple of distressing signs for Maple Leafs (28-10-3), who have an identical record they enjoyed at the 41-game point a year ago.

Maple Leafs starting goalie Jack Campbell was not sharp against the Devils at Scotiabank Arena. He was lifted after allowing three goals on nine shots at 9:10 in the first period. But also, the team in front of him has not looked sharp early in games only to turn on the offensive tap in the third period.

Forty-eight hours after overcoming a two-goal, third-period deficit in Detroit against the Red Wings to win 7-4, the Maple Leafs bounced back from a 4-2 disadvantage to defeat the Devils.

"Jack hasn't played to the same level he established for himself," Toronto head coach Sheldon Keefe said. "But neither has the team in front of him.

"That's on us. That's not nearly enough. We've got a guy who battled for us and has been the backbone of this team."

Campbell's play earned him a trip to the NHL all-star game in Las Vegas this weekend. But he has yielded 16 goals in his last nine-plus periods.

"Our start wasn't very good," said Matthews, who now has 28 goals in 38 games. "We weren't ready from the start.

"Soup (Campbell) didn't play bad. We just gave them some Grade-A chances."

After two periods, the visitors held a 4-2 lead and hoped to give rookie netminder Akira Schmid his first career NHL win in his fourth start and fifth appearance. The 21-year-old Swiss goalie