TORONTO -- James Reimer made 31 saves and Phil Kessel scored on the power play in the third period Monday as the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the New Jersey Devils 2-0.
Reimer was by far the busier of the two goalies, picking up his third shutout of the season, as the Maple Leafs (24-14-5), continued their push for their first playoff birth since 2004.
He kept his team in the game until Kessel scored the winner with a quick shot that beat New Jersey goalie Martin Brodeur short side at 13:28 of the final period.
Jay McClement scored into an empty net with 36.6 seconds remaining in regulation to seal the win.
Brodeur made 11 saves for the Devils (15-17-10), who entered play 11th in the Eastern Conference and in a battle for the playoff lives a year after making the Stanley Cup final.
New Jersey has now lost 10 in a row (0-6-4), while Toronto has lost just once in regulation in their last 14 (9-1-4).
After a scoreless first two periods that saw little action, Reimer took over the game midway through the third. He stopped Adam Henrique with a great pad save while shorthanded, and after New Jersey's Andy Greene hit the post, the Toronto goalie robbed Patrick Elias from in tight.
That brought the previously subdued crowd at Air Canada Centre to its feet.
After recording just five shots on goal through two periods, Dion Phaneuf directed Toronto's sixth effort of the evening early in the third, eliciting a Bronx cheer from the crowd.
James van Riemsdyk then fired a shot from the slot that Brodeur, who could be excused for being half asleep from the lack for activity, stopped with his glove.
Coming off a dominating 5-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night, the Maple Leafs didn't register a shot on goal until just after the seven-minute mark of a sluggish opening period -- a weak effort from centre by defenceman Mark Fraser.
The Devils carried much of the play in the opening 20 minutes, outshooting Toronto 9-3, but Reimer closed the door when called upon. The three shots on goal tied Maple Leafs' lowest output in a period this season, which came in a 5-2 loss to the New York Rangers on Jan. 26.
Toronto then set a new mark for shot futility in 2013 with just two shots in the second period as the Devils played their usual tight-checking style against a Maple Leafs lineup that wasn't able to match New Jersey's desperation.
Reimer was by far the best player on the ice for Toronto through two periods, including a big glove save off Henrique three minutes into the second and another stop off Elias in the final minute.
