Maple Leafs defeat Red Wings to end losing streak
Mikheyev has two points, Andersen makes 25 saves for Toronto, which had lost three straight
via NHL.com
Ilya Mikheyev had a goal and an assist, and the Toronto Maple Leafs ended a three-game losing streak with a 5-2 win against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday.
“I think it just came down to working harder,” said Toronto defenseman Jake Muzzin, who had a goal and was plus-3. “We came out with the right attitude and we did a lot of good work.”
Dmytro Timashov (two assists) and Nicholas Shore (goal, assist), each a healthy scratch the past two games, had two points, and Frederik Andersen made 25 saves for Toronto (3-2-1).
“I thought [Timashov] had a heck of a game,” Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. “He was fast, he was a strong and he was physical. Setting up the two goals was almost a bonus, but he was really good.”
Jacob de la Rose had a goal and an assist, Justin Abdelkader had two assists, and Jimmy Howard made 36 saves for Detroit (3-2-0).
“I don’t think we played our best tonight,” Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “The first period was pretty even, but there were long stretches in the second period where we couldn’t get out of our end. That leads to some tired legs.”
They said it
“I thought they were great on both ends of the ice. They were giving me open lanes and taking care of the puck in our end, and they were playing good, heavy shifts at the other end and creating chances. That puts a lot of wear and tear on the forwards for the other team.” — Maple Leafs goalie Frederik Andersen on the play of their third and fourth lines
“We have seen what the de la Rose line has been doing in the last three games. That’s why we started them in Montreal and that’s why we started them again tonight. Abdelkader and de la Rose are both big men who can go head-to-head with [Auston] Matthews. They are playing big, strong hockey and creating chances in the offensive end.” — Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill
Need to know
It was the first multipoint game in the NHL for Timashov, who was playing his third game. … Detroit’s second line of Andreas Athanasiou, Luke Glendening and Taro Hirose combined for two shots and had a minus-10 rating.
What’s next
Maple Leafs: Host the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; TSN4, FS-N, FS-WI, NHL.TV)
Red Wings: At the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday (10 p.m. ET; SN1, FS-D, NHL.TV)