Bill Kostroun / AP

Ilya Kovalchuk, left, takes a shot in his first game for New Jersey against Toronto on Friday.

It made for a storybook ending for Kovalchuk, who set up the Devils’ first goal by Dainius Zubrus in the first period. Kovalchuk also assisted on Zajac’s tally.

While the 31-goal scorer didn’t tally, the Devils found a way to get them late and win.

“We needed something to give us a jump start,” Langenbrunner said. “We came out pretty good with a solid first period. Then we fell back into the way we’ve been going the last few weeks. We stood around and let them control the game. It was a big goal by Dino and you could see the excitement on the bench. We kind of rolled from there.”

Trailing 1-0 entering the second period, the Maple Leafs scored three times, with two coming on the power play.

Kaberle got Toronto on the scoreboard early in the second period with Rob Niedermayer off for slashing. The defenseman’s shot from the left point hit off the stick of Pandolfo and fluttered into the upper part of the net for his sixth goal.

Stempniak put Toronto ahead, taking the puck from Mottau, skating in an arcing half circle to the top of the right circle and beating Martin Brodeur with a shot between the pads for his 14th goal.

Wallin got a little lucky in scoring his first of the season. Langenbrunner attempted to backhand a puck out of his own zone but his pass hit off the skate of New Jersey defenseman Colin White and went right to Wallin, who fired a 25-footer past Brodeur.

“I don’t think anyone saw this coming, even after they got their second goal,” Wallin said. “That didn’t seem much of a chance to develop. They have some players and you can’t give them anything. That’s what happened late on the penalty kill and the last one was just a killer.”

Zubrus got the Devils on the board, backhanding a puck past Gustavsson that Kovalchuk centered in front.

Notes: Devils F Patrik Elias missed his 10th game because of a concussion. ... Wallin has seven career goals in 56 games.

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