Jeff Finger and Phil Kessel each netted a goal
and an assist, and the Toronto Maple Leafs notched their first home win with a
5-1 victory over the defending Western Conference champion Detroit Red Wings.
Kessel notched his first goal since coming over to the Leafs in an offseason
trade from Boston, while Finger also scored his first goal of the season.
Toronto, which now has earned a point in seven straight contests (3-0-4), has
beaten the Red Wings three straight times.
"When you add a guy like Phil Kessel in the mix, it definitely gives a jolt to
our whole lineup," said Toronto's Jason Blake. "Offensively, he's as dangerous
as they get."
Wayne Primeau, John Mitchell and Alexei Ponikarovsky also scored for the Maple
Leafs, who are just 1-4-2 at home this season. Jonas Gustavsson stopped 35
shots for the win.
Daniel Cleary scored the only goal for the Red Wings, who had won their last
three games. Chris Osgood struggled throughout the game, allowing all five
goals on 28 shots to take the loss.
"We got to do way better than that. No question about it," said Red Wings head
coach Mike Babcock. "They got some timely saves, and the puck went in our net,
and that was the difference in the game. They got more life."
Toronto took the early lead midway through the first on Primeau's first goal
of the season. Primeau skated with the puck down the right side, used
defenseman Brett Lebda as a screen, and fired the puck through Osgood's legs
from the circle at 10:34.
Just before the period ended, the Maple Leafs made it 2-0 on Kessel's tally.
The former Bruins star found a loose puck behind Osgood near the goal line
after a failed clearing attempt and easily tapped the puck into the net with
26 seconds remaining on the clock.
The game became 3-0 on a goal by Toronto. Skating up on a quick rush, Lee
Stempniak dished the puck into the slot for Finger, whose wrister beat Osgood
up high at the 5:21 mark of the second period.
Cleary got the Red Wings on the board six minutes into the third period, but
Mitchell tipped Kessel's shot past Osgood with 10:38 left to give Toronto a
power play goal and a 4-1 lead.
Ponikarovsky scored on a backhand shot with just over seven minutes left to
account for the final margin.
Game Notes
The Leafs, who came into the game with the league's worst penalty kill unit at
69.1 percent, held the Red Wings to no power play goals on five
chances...Toronto went 1-for-4 on the power play...Detroit is 2-4-2 on the
road this season...The Leafs scored the game's first goal for only the second
time this season in 15 chances...Prior to the game, the Leafs honored all of
the 2009 Hockey Hall of Fame inductees, who will be enshrined on Monday.
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