The Detroit Red Wings welcomed in long-time Original Six rivals the Toronto Maple Leafs for a weekend matchup in Detroit. By night’s end, the Red Wings pulled off a 4-2 win, moving to 12-14-4. In the loss, the Maple Leafs fell to 18-10-2.
Game Recap
The first 20 minutes ended with one goal being scored. The Red Wings got things started halfway through the period, with Jeff Petry scoring his first goal of the season. His shot from the point was aided by a deflection off Bobby McMann’s stick and a strong screen by Michael Rasmussen in front of Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll.
The Maple Leafs thought they had the game tied after a miscue defensively by the Red Wings helped lead to the Maple Leafs tying the game up at one apiece. Mitch Marner was the benefactor of friendly fire of a deflection off Dylan Larkin’s stick, helping aid his shot to bounce by Ville Husso. However, the Red Wings won a challenge for offside to keep their 1-0 lead intact, which they held for the remainder of the period. At the end of 20 minutes, shots were 10-6 in favor of the Red Wings, with both Woll and Husso standing tall for their respective teams.
The Maple Leafs’ 20th-ranked power play cashed in on a second-period opportunity, with Marner setting up Auston Matthews for a one-timer backdoor to tie the game at 1-1, which stood until the final 10 seconds. Patrick Kane made a patented “showtime” play with a slick backhand pass across the ice in the offensive zone to JT Compher, who then quickly found Moritz Seider for a goal with eight seconds left in the period to give the Red Wings a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes of play.
It did not take long for the Maple Leafs to tie the game in the third period, with Marner again finding himself in the middle of the action. His shot from the top of the circles was tipped in front of Husso by Matthew Knies to tie things up 2-2 less than two minutes into the third period. Marner was not the only one to get himself involved multiple times, though, as Petry again found the back of the net 44 seconds after Knies’ tally to restore a 3-2 Red Wings lead. Lucas Raymond added an empty net goal with two seconds remaining in the game after the Red Wings withstood a late-game push from the Maple Leafs to seal a 4-2 win for his team.
In the win, Husso stopped 24 of 26 shots, while Woll stopped 22 of the 25 he faced.
The Red Wings are off until Dec. 18, when they return to the ice to take on the Philadelphia Flyers in Detroit. The Maple Leafs look to bounce back when they return home tomorrow (Dec. 15) to take on the Buffalo Sabres.
