by Mike Whitaker
DETROIT – Saturday night at Little Caesars Arena was the perfect atmosphere for the die-hard hockey fan. Two passionate fan bases of historic Original 6 teams both cheering their squads on and going back and forth with competing chants and cheers.
Unfortunately, the thousands of fans draped in blue jerseys would leave happy.
The Toronto Maple Leafs broke a three-game winless skid with a 5-2 victory
over the Detroit Red Wings thanks to the gutsy efforts of their bottom two lines. Toronto’s Alex Kerfoot scored the game-winning goal, putting home a rebound in front of the net at 9:11 of the third period and gritty defense-man Jake Muzzin put the game out of reach with his first of the year with 6:26 left.
While the Red Wings had multiple chances, they were unable to convert while Toronto took advantage of theirs. Red-hot forward Anthony Mantha was held off the score sheet after hitting the post twice and also being denied on a breakaway chance.
The game’s turning point came late in the second period when goaltender Jimmy Howard skated far out of his crease trying to beat forward Ilya Mikheyev to a loose puck, only to have him get there first and fire it into the gaping net.
Forward Jacob de la Rose opened the scoring by banging home a rebound past Andersen; he also assisted on Darren Helm’s third period goal, his second goal in as many games. Howard finished with 35 saves. Afterwards, forward Dylan Larkin lamented how the Leafs “just outworked” his team, and noted that the de la Rose group was Detroit’s best unit all night.
“They played hard, scored big goals,” Larkin said. “They kept it simple. Speaking for our line, we didn’t keep it simple, we were forcing plays….they were our best line by far.”
Said forward Darren Helm: “I think we’re keeping things pretty simple, getting pucks deep and being hard on the fore check. We’re just clicking right now and having fun out there.”
The Red Wings will now head on the road for a Western Canadian road trip with games at Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton.
