Maple Leafs notch 4th straight, down Wings 4-1

TORONTO, Ont. - It's been a bad four days for the Detroit Red Wings.

After falling to Toronto at home 2-1 in a shootout on Wednesday, they were on the wrong end of a 3-2 decision to lowly Florida two days later.

And though they opened their rematch with Toronto with a 1-0 lead in the first five minutes Saturday night, the Maple Leafs responded with three unanswered goals to clinch the season series against their Original Six rivals.

Toronto notched goals from three different strikers as the Maple Leafs down Detroit 4-1 at the Air Canada Centre.

A victory that gave Toronto (17-9-3) their fourth-straight victory and a stellar 8-1-1 showing in their last ten contests.

"They were way better than us," Wings coach Mike Babcock said afterwards, "way quicker, and executed."

The first twenty minutes was as even as it was spirited, as both nets were under siege, both facing 12 shots, both allowing 1.

Niklas Kronwall would quiet the crowd on the man advantage after he was held by James van Riemsdyk. 

His one-timer from the boards flew past Jonathan Bernier's right arm as the Leafs net-minder was crowded by Darren Helm in his crease.

But van Riemsdyk would respond sixty seconds later, albeit unintentionally.

His skate would produce the 1-1 stalemate after a pass from Leafs points-leader Phil Kessel tapped off the left-winger's boot in the crowded crease area.

The two goals in the first both gave each side their only power-play goals on the evening.

Kessel's point pushes his tally to 30 on the season, for his 15th assist against 15 goals.

The middle frame gave Detroit's penalty-killers a chance to show their second-best ranking as Petr Mezrak stuffed two game chances from Tyler Bozak on the advantage, a bouncer off the back glass that nearly petered in and a scrum in the Wings crease that had the goalie on his back and three men inside the net.

But Richard Panik would give Toronto the 2-1 lead when both sides fielded five men. 

Korbinian Holzer took the assist, the first point this season for the 26-year-old German, causing a turnover in the Detroit zone after picking away at Tomas Tatar and flicking it off the far boards to the Leafs blue line.

Panik took the pass in stride on a sudden breakaway, firing clean past Mezrak's right glove for his third goal in eight appearances for the Maple Leafs.

"Suddenly the puck was on my stick and I was happy," Panik said of what would be the game-winner.

The goal was Toronto 41st this season in second periods, to opponents' 25, and Saturday night's second session found the Leafs outshoot the Wings 20-5.

Panik fought Detroit's Brendan Smith late in the contest after Smith took offense at Panik's strong forearm check against the glass behind the Toronto net and charged the Leafs right-winger.

Panik would give Smith what the Leafs gave the Wings in the final two periods, landing six confident blows on him before officials separated them. 

Morgan Rielly inflated the Toronto scoresheet with a wrister that sailed past Mrazek's right elbow following a turnover in the neutral zone.

"We knew we had to clean it up a bit and as a team we did that," Rielly said. "That's a pretty good team we beat."

Nazem Kadri added the empty-netter with three minutes left in the third, and the three-goal advantage.

Henrik Zetterberg failed to produce a point for Detroit (17-7-7), having notched 16 in his last 13 meetings with Toronto. 

Detroit will enjoy a four-game homestand, hosting Columbus on Tuesday, and the Maple Leafs will host the Los Angeles Kings Sunday.

Red Wings-Maple Leafs preview

TORONTO, Ont. - After playing one another four times this season, Saturday night's contest between Toronto and Detroit will decide who takes the season series between these two Original Six programs.

Toronto (16-9-3) seeks a four-game winning streak for the first time this season and the Red Wings (17-6-7) look to end a two game skid that began when these teams last met, Wednesday evening in Detroit.

Leafs net-minder James Reimer stuffed 41 shots against him in that contest, a 2-1 shootout decision to Toronto. Jimmy Howard faced only 19 for the Wings, and only 6 in the final period, though still allowed the tying goal late in regulation.

Mike Santorelli clinched the win in the final round of the shootout, flinging a wrister between Howard's pads. Tyler Bozak added for the Leafs and Pavel Datsyuk gave the Wings their only good goal in that time.

Toronto's Phil Kessel notched his fourth goal in five games that night and leads the team with 29 points (15 G, 14 A), and the side is 10-2-1 when Kessel records a goal.

"We need a couple of bounces here and there, but we're winning. That's the most important," Kessel said this week. "We're working hard. We're doing the little things right."

The Maple Leafs have not played a hockey game since their clash with Detroit, though their opponents come into the Air Canada Centre following a 3-2 shootout loss to lowly Florida Friday night. 

Detroit fell to a 1-5-0 record in shootouts as a result, and Jimmy Howard 0-5 in net.

"Right now, when we get to the shootout, we're not a confident group, so we've just got to keep working on it," Wings coach Mike Babcock said Friday. "No sense hanging our heads or getting disappointed."

Nor have any reason to hang their hands about their vital statistics.

They hold the second-best penalty killing group in hockey (88.2 pct) behind only the streaking Chicago Blackhawks, and score 3 goals per game, good for third most.

Detroit converts 22 percent of their power-play chances, the 8th best mark in the game, and scored twice with the extra man Friday against the Panthers. That, after failing to convert on their last three outings.

Henrik Zetterberg tallied four assists in Detroit's 4-1 victory over Toronto on Oct. 17th, and has taken 16 career points in 13 meetings with the Maple Leafs. His added an assist in the Wings' loss to Toronto Wednesday.

His 26 points and 21 assists lead the Wings, who will enjoy a four-game homestand after leaving Toronto.

"They're good," Phil Kessel said of Detroit. "You watch them play, they skate, they work, they got good defense and they got a good goaltender. Every night you play them, it's a tough game."

Petr Mrazek will sit in net for the Red Wings in relief of Howard. The 22-year-old Czech is 3-0 this season and a 2.59 goals-against tally, including a 34 save performance against Carolina, a 3-1 victory for Detroit Dec. 7th. 

Detroit took the first two meetings with Toronto on consecutive nights in October before dropping the next two. 

Leafs come back to top Wings in shootout

DETROIT, Mich. - Sixty-five minutes would not be enough between the Red Wings and Maple Leafs in Detroit Wednesday night.

But Mike Santorelli's wrister from twenty feet out on the final attempt in the shootout would clinch an extra point for the visiting Leafs, whose 2-1 decision over Detroit gives them their seventh win out of nine games.

And put the axe to the Wings' three-game winning streak.

Pavel Datsyuk notched Detroit's only strike in the shootout, a slicing backhander from nine feet, but Gustav Nyquist would shoot high and Tomas Tatar found only James Reimer's pad.

Toronto secures the two points despite being outshot 42-19 from a Red Wings side that had young Reimer under attack most of the evening, as Detroit enjoyed a 40-16 shooting advantage through sixty minutes. 

"They played really hard," Reimer said after of his opponents, "but we were poised. We battled hard, and we were lucky enough to get the win."

He was brilliant in net, stopping 41-of-42 for Toronto (16-9-3), including a third period in which he stopped every one of 18 shots to the 6 his foe Jimmy Howard faced.

Despite that lowly number, Detroit's net-minder would still let one through, and at the worst possible time.

Largely unharassed in that period, Howard allowed the tying goal at 5:09, when Phil Kessel put himself on the scoresheet with his 15th on the season.

James van Riemsdyk relieved his goalie of the Red Wings' tyranny momentarily, causing a turnover in the neutral zone and skating himself along the far boards.

His pass landed right on Kessel's stick inside the crease despite his being blanketed by Detroit's stalwart defenders, bouncing off the tape past Howard's left pad. 

Kessel's goal gave the right-winger his 29th point, a Maple Leafs-best. 

Reimer would charge from his own net to stop a daring chance from Darren Helm seconds later.

The Leafs nearly took the two points in the overtime session when a fluttering shot danced through Jimmy Howard's legs. It would have slid over the line were Gustav Nyquist not there to flick it out in time.

After a scoreless opening period, the middle framed looked to be the prelude to an inevitable Red Wings victory as the hosts put James Reimer on high alert through the first seven minutes of that period.

Detroit (17-6-6) fired six shots to Toronto's none in that time, and it wasn't until with 12 minutes left that Jake Gardiner dared to try Howard from the circle.

The Wings outshot the Leafs 22-10 in that period, an advantage that produced the result at 17:52, when Nyquist fired his 13th on the year.

It began when Henrik Zetterberg held the puck in the right circle. His darting pass to Tomas Jurco in stride to Reimer's right nearly produced the score, but Jurco's shot bounced off the goalie's chest.

And into the path of Nyquist, who was harassing Reimer in the crease. He spun out of a tackle with Morgan Rielly and flicked the easy backhander when the goalie left the right side open.

Zetterberg's work on the goal gave him his 16th point in 13 meetings with the Maple Leafs, against whom Detroit will face again in three days in Toronto.

Nyquist strikes late, Wings lead Leafs 1-0 after 2nd

DETROIT, Mich. - Gustav Nyquist lit the lamp for the Red Wings to end a long-last scoreless stalemate, giving Detroit the 1-0 lead over the Toronto Maple Leafs after two periods Wednesday evening.

Henrik Zetterberg had put the puck into play from the left circle on a sudden development, flicking a hopeful pass in on Tomas Jurco.

His shot was stuffed easily by James Reimer, but then bounced off his chest into the crease. By that time, Nyqyust made his way there, spinning out of a tackle with Morgan Rielly and darting it clean past the Manitoban for the lead.

The goal was his 13th on the season, taking hold of the best scoring mark on the Red Wings roster.

James Reimer found himself under siege for Toronto as the second period began.

Gustav Nyquist and Riley Sheahan tried a 2-on-1 seconds into the middle period, but the latter's shot was pecked at by Dion Phaneuf and went high.

Reimer went to work again for Toronto against Tomas Tatar two minutes in after Tatar took a pass from Darren Helm and found himself facing the goalie alone. Reimer would deflect the chance away.

Pavel Datsyuk caused the latter attack after forcing a defensive turnover in the neutral zone.

Riley Sheahan nearly struck four minutes in with a convincing shot from very close range. It bounced off Reimer's left pad and died in the crease, soon covered for the visitors.

Nyquist tried again, taking a pass from Henrik Zetterberg from the right circle and shooting from outside the crease, though stuffed by the resilient Leafs goalie.

Toronto notched their first shot on goal a long eight minutes into the second period when Jake Gardiner tried Jimmy Howard on a one-time blast from the circle, to no avail.

Detroit had outshot the Leafs 6-0 until then to opening seven minutes of the session, finishing with 22 shots to Toronto's 10.

Not that the visitors had no chances.

Toronto took the man-advantage after Riley Sheahan hooked the Leafs' David Booth at 9:19.

Forty seconds into the advantage, however, the Leafs had failed to even cross their own blue line. Matters grew worse when they went down two men for 1:10 after Danny DeKeyser closed his hand on the puck.

Kessel and Phaneuf exchanged passes before the latter fired for Howard, though wide. Kessel gave to Phenauf again, then to Franzen, though was deflected to the other end of the ice. 

With three seconds left in the 4-on-4, the Wings pushed the puck from their own end as Riley Sheahan returned to play.

Toronto fared little better in the next 5-on-4. Detroit's Kyle Quincey stole the puck behind the net, flinging a backhander down the ice, but was hit by Joffrey Lupul, giving the game a brief 4-on-4 session before the Wings took the extra man.

Toronto could not secure a shot on goal during their advantage as Detroit has now killed 15 of their last 16 penalties as they hold the 3rd-best penalty-killing unit in hockey (87.1 percent).

Franzen fired a long-range one-timer with 45 seconds left in the Wings power-play, the 7th best in the league. Stephen Weiss tried from close range against Reimer but was deflected wide.

Nyquist fired to the side of the net off a promising cross-ice pass as the power-play vanished, and Phil Kessel nearly had a chance alone against Howard after some Detroit passing went wrong in their zone, but the puck slid from his grasp.

Pavel Datsyuk ventured a chance alone to Reimer's left side with three minutes left, but the Leafs goalie by then had plenty of practice, stuffing the chance in the crease.

Detroit (17-6-5) is seeking their eighth victory in nine attempts.

Red Wings and Maple Leafs scoreless after 1st

DETROIT, Mich. - Detroit and Toronto hold the 4th and 2nd best scoring offenses respectively in hockey, but both finished the opening period with no score after twenty minutes at Joe Louis Arena Wednesday night.

James van Riemsdyk struck the back of Detroit's net as time expired off a quick pass from Tyler Bozak, but officials immediately ruled the goal came after the bell.

Both sides played 4-on-4 hockey with three minutes remaining after Toronto's Dion Phaneuf sat for interfering with Tomas Jurco, and Detroit's Tomas Tatar slashed Daniel Winnik when the latter had a sudden shorthanded scoring chance for the Leafs. 

Phil Kessel finished the period with one shot on goal in nine shifts for Toronto, who come in to the game winners of 6 of their last 8 games. Kessel's 28 points lead the Leafs.

Jimmy Howard had an easy time in net for the Red Wings during the opening session, including an eleven-minute stretch during which he did not face a single shot against him. He saved all 7 shots he faced from the visitors.

Howard has won four of his last five meeting with Toronto.

James Reimer stopped 12-of-12 in net for Toronto (15-9-3) in relief of Jonathan Bernier, who stopped 32 shots in victory against Calgary Tuesday night. He faced a Red Wings shooting flurry near the 12 minute mark when the hosts outshot Toronto 6-0 over two minutes.

Detroit's Riley Sheahan and Niklas Kronwall tried Reimer in succession early on, both going high at the 15 minute mark.

Drew Miller ventured a wrist shot from close range minutes later after a turnover in the Leafs zone, but went high on Reimer. Darren Helm brought the puck up ice himself a minute later, firing wide on Reimer from the right circle.

Pavel Datsyuk had a sudden 1-on-1 chance against Reimer after taking a pass from Kronwall deep in the Toronto zone, but his wrister went high and wide of the Leafs net. Datsyuk has seven goals and 4 assists in his last six appearances for Detroit (17-6-5) after missing eleven games with a groin injury.

The contest is the first of a home-and-home series, the second of which is to be played Dec. 13th in Toronto.

Jagr out vs Toronto, but not from hit

TORONTO, Ont. - Devils right-winger Jaromir Jagr has been listed as out for New Jersey's game Thursday night at the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The team removed him from the line-up as the 42-year-old is suffering with the flu, a condition he came down with alongside teammate Adam Larsson, who is also out.

Jagr does not have a concussion, something that was thought after he took a hard hit from Pittsburgh's Robert Bortuzzo in the Devils' meeting with the Penguins Tuesday night. 

It was a hit deemed "predatory" by the league, and for which Bortuzzo was fined almost $6,500. 

The NHL's department of player safety ruled the hit was "well after Jagr has released the puck and at a point at which a body check is no longer legal."

They also ruled the collision included "significant head contact."