A 4-1 loss to Toronto Saturday night gave the Detroit Red Wings their third consecutive loss and second in four nights to the Maple Leafs.
Detroit scored the game’s first goal but Toronto took over the scoring from there, potting four goals of their own.
Niklas Kronwall’s blast from the blue line with 4:33 left in the first period found its way through traffic to beat Maple Leafs’ goalie Jonathan Bernier. The power play goal came off a quick pass from Johan Franzen.
Toronto would even things up just one minute later on a power play of their own, with Phil Kessel’s shot from the left wing deflecting off of James van Riemsdyk in front and past Red Wings’ netminder Petr Mrazek.
The Leafs took the lead with 2:10 left in the second period, as a bad line change by Detroit let Richard Panik get in behind the defense and take a stretch pass from Korbinian Holzer. Panik beat Mrazek five-hole to make it 2-1.
Just 1:42 into the third period, Morgan Reilly made it 3-1. During a line change, Reilly streaked down the left side all alone and snapped a shot past Mrazek.
Nazem Kadri added an empty-net goal to round out the scoring.
Mrazek finished the night with 37 saves on 40 Toronto shots. Bernier stopped 27 of 28 Detroit chances.
The Red Wings were one-for-two on the power play while the Maple Leafs scored once on five tries with the man-advantage.
After three games in four nights, Detroit is now off until Tuesday when they host the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Detroit remained without forward Justin Abdelkader and defenseman Danny DeKeyser… Stephen Weiss was also out for the Red Wings, having suffered a shoulder injury on Friday night against the Florida Panthers. Daniel Cleary took his spot in the lineup… Jakub Kindl was a healthy scratch, replaced in the lineup by Brian Lashoff.
