Maple Leafs send a message with statement win despite missing key players

Down several key players including Auston Matthews and Chris Tanev, it was the rough-n-tumble Maple Leafs who were poised to take on former head coach Sheldon Keefe and the Devils.

Needing a strong performance, the team got off on the right foot and stayed hot all night, cruising to a 4-0 victory thanks to a collective effort led by Joseph Woll and his 33 saves.

Goals from Nicolas Roy, Bobby McMann, Matthew Knies and Calle Jarnkrok were the difference makers, and with a strong defensive game in front of Woll; it was easy pickings for the Maple Leafs.

They kept their strong power play going with one goal on three chances and nearly had a second as the man advantage expired just shortly before Roy scored:

Toronto was outshot by the Devils but it wasn't by much, as they pelted Jacob Markstrom with 29 shots; several of them where he needed to stand on his head to keep it from being even more lopsided:

Let's just say the physicality was a huge part of the game, as Toronto was putting in the pain all night against the Devils, including a fight between Matthew Knies and Nico Hischier which drew an uproar from the Scotiabank faithful.

Knies clearly wanted a piece of the Devils captain, initiating things moments before they got into the scrap:

And just to cap it off, Knies put in the empty-netter after stuffing Jack Hughes to the ground and depositing the puck into the cage:

All in all it was a complete performance from top to bottom and had even the smaller names like Simon Benoit and Jarnkrok getting involved. This is the type of energy the team needs every night, and if they can do this with the stars; they could be in a great spot going forward.

The team also got a hefty bit of help from Jake McCabe, who added another eight blocks to push his NHL leading total to 102.

Toronto will have a chance to build off this game as they take on the Winnipeg Jets on New Year's Day at home before heading to Long Island to take on the New York Islanders on Jan 3.