Red Wings postgame: Ousted by Auston
By Tom Mitsos
6 years agoFresh off a 3-1 win against the Nashville Predators, the Detroit Red Wings were looking for their fourth win in five games at home against the Toronto Maple Leafs. However, some late-game heroics from Auston Matthews gave the Maple Leafs the 3-2 win Sunday night.
THE RUNDOWN
The first period featured a lot of back-and-forth play, as both teams had opportunities to get on the scoreboard. However, the goalies were perfect, as the first period ended tied 0-0.
The Maple Leafs outattempted the Red Wings 24-20 (24-20 at 5 on 5) and outshot them 15-12 (15-12 at 5 on 5) after 20 minutes.
About six minutes into the second period, the Red Wings finally broke the scoreless tie, as Anthony Mantha scored his 20th goal of the season on the power play, deflecting a Gustav Nyquist shot.
Just 1:11 later, the Maple Leafs tied it at 1-1, as James van Riemsdyk tipped a Jake Gardiner shot.
And 18 seconds after tying the game, the Maple Leafs added the go-ahead goal, as Nazem Kadri picked up a Niklas Kronwall turnover and found Mitch Marner, who waited out Petr Mrazek.
In the second period, the Maple Leafs outattempted the Red Wings 24-13 (17-9 at 5 on 5) and outshot them 12-8 (8-5 at 5 on 5).
About midway through the third period, the Red Wings tied the game at 2-2, when Gustav Nyquist found Henrik Zetterberg on the backdoor for an easy tap-in past Curtis McElhinney.
It looked like the Red Wings’ goal was going to send the game to overtime, but Matthews wristed a shot past Mrazek with 30 seconds left after a Dylan Larkin icing.
The Red Wings outattempted the Maple Leafs 14-12 (14-12 at 5 on 5) and outshot them 9-7 (9-7 at 5 on 5) in the third period.
THE STATS
It was a competitive game in the first period, but the Maple Leafs started to pull away midway through the second period and stayed the course throughout the game. Just four Maple Leafs players had a shot attempts percentage below 50 percent.
Mrazek made 31 saves for the Red Wings to give them a chance to win, but Matthews’ late-game heroics secured the win for the Maple Leafs.
MOTOR CITY MVP
There wasn’t a big standout for the Red Wings, but Mantha is tonight’s Motor City MVP with a goal. In addition to notching his team-leading 20th goal, he also led the team with a plus-5 shot attempts differential.
NEXT UP
The Red Wings are back in action Tuesday night, as they host the Predators. Nashville hosts the Ottawa Senators on Monday, so the Red Wings have an opportunity to take advantage of a potentially tired team. Puck drop is 7:30 p.m., and you can watch the game on Fox Sports Detroit.
As always, we’ll have the pregame report up on WingsNation.com early Tuesday afternoon.
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