Red Wings-Maple Leafs wrap-up: resilient Wings come up short in Toronto, but the fight is there

The Detroit Red Wings rallied from multiple deficits en route to a 5-4 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night…

And while the 4-3-and-2 Red Wings were never in control of the game they played on Saturday night, it was damn good to see the Wings compete as hard as they did and attempt to rally as forcefully as they did.

Regrettably, the Red Wings could not complete the comeback–and they rallied from 1-0, 3-1, 4-2 and almost 5-4 deficits along the way–so all was finally as “normal” as “normal” gets for the 4-4-and-1 Maple Leafs after their win, as the Toronto Sun’s Terry Koshan suggested:

If the Maple Leafs are going to find a way out of their early stumbles, their marquee players will have to be at the forefront. On Saturday night at Scotiabank Arena, captain John Tavares stepped into the spotlight.
Tavares had his first three-point game since the 2020-21 season opener last January, contributing a goal and two assists as the Leafs beat the Detroit Red Wings 5-4.
“We haven’t gotten off to a rolling start production-wise, but as I’ve said, I’m not trying to get too up in arms about it,” Tavares said. “I think we know we need to be difference-makers, we need to produce and we’re counted on for that, but for me, it’s continuing build my game in all areas.”
The victory was the Leafs’ second in as many games after a four-game losing streak that had just about everyone outside the organization rightfully questioning the club’s desire.
Petr Mrazek, in his first home game for Toronto and first since suffering a groin injury in Ottawa on Oct. 14, made 26 saves in the first match of a season-high five-game home stand, as the Leafs improved to 4-4-1.
Mitch Marner scored his first goal of the season at 17:55 of the third, which turned out to be the winner, after Detroit defenceman Nick Leddy put the puck on his stick behind the Wings net.
It was Marner’s first goal in 17 games, including the playoffs last spring and dating to the second-last game of the regular season last May. The line of Tavares between Kerfoot and Marner had a strong night.
“Huge,” Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said of Marner’s goal. “He has had two really strong games where I thought he has been really dominant with the puck. We know he is a playmaker … it’s another thing to see a zero beside your name and for him to get that (was big).”

There was quite a bit of buzz about coach Keefe benching defenseman Justin Holl for Saturday’s game, and, as Sportsnet’s Luke Fox noted, the lineup tweak worked…

“Instead of reducing his role or minutes, we thought we’d shock the system here and take a step back — because he’s an important player for us,” Keefe said. “I haven’t made any guarantees about whether he’s going right back in. We’ll see how he plays.”
Toronto’s much-improved defensive effort of 2020-21 has yet to find its groove in October. And although the Leafs routinely outshoot their opposition, the odd-man rushes and easy net access they surrender is concerning enough to bench a player they protected in the Seattle expansion draft.
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Though far from perfect, the refreshed blueline duos and a breakout game by John Tavares secured Petr Mrazek his first victory as a Leaf — 5-4 over his former employer, the Detroit Red Wings.
The Maple Leafs struck first with a mere 13.4 seconds remaining in the first frame.
Jake Muzzin took a pass from new partner T.J. Brodie and worked the puck down to the circles, where he fired a puck through traffic and beat Thomas Greiss for Toronto’s first goal by a defenceman all season. Muzzin entered the game a team-worst minus-8, becoming a growing source of concern at least outside the dressing room.
“For a guy that has been so good for so long, you have confidence that he’s going to find it,” Keefe assured. “We’re just talking him through it. Reassuring him. Challenging him. But he doesn’t need too much of that because he’s a very self-aware guy.”

Or did it work? The Toronto Star’s Rosie DiManno insisted that the Leafs should have scratched Muzzin instead (welcome to Toronto, where EVERYthing is micro-analyzed)…

Muzzin hasn’t exactly provided steadying ballast for his partner, either. In fact, the struggling Muzzin might have been the guiltier party, on the ice for a team-most five-on-five goals against through eight games, one less than Holl. Though he did become the first member of the D-corps to score a goal on Saturday, snapping a shot from the left hashmarks past Thomas Greiss with 13.4 seconds left in the opening period and John Tavares providing an effective screen. Only the third time the Leafs have scored first, and they’re very much a different team with the lead.
If an exasperating team with the lead in this game.
“Some mixed emotions,” Muzzin admitted afterwards. “We’ll take the win. We did a lot of good things. But we definitely have to tighten some things up and play better with the lead, that’s for sure.”
The Leafs gave up a power-play goal and got it back in the second period, again in the short strokes, just 17.1 seconds left on the clock when Michael Bunting deflected a shot from Jason Spezza — among the few Leafs who seemed in the mood to actually shoot the puck on that man advantage. Alex Kerfoot put Toronto up 3-1 a mere 17 seconds into the third with a nifty set up by Tavares. The captain shortly thereafter restored the two-goal lead on a two-on-one with Kerfoot, except Detroit kept coming closing the gap to 4-3 on a weird episode where Rielly was in and out of the penalty box — first assessed a high-sticking misdemeanour, then it was withdrawn. But Vladislav Namestnikov had scored on the play.
Heaving exhale when Mitch Marner jumped on a gimme off a horrible clearing sweep by Greiss, at 17:55. Not pretty but, unassisted, Marner’s first goal of the campaign. And still the Red Wings wouldn’t stay dead, inching close again with 29 seconds left in regulation.

And the Toronto Star’s Mark Zwolinski added yet another opinion, suggesting that the Leafs had Petr Mrazek to thank for their victory:

In his first start in goal since injuring his groin on Oct. 14, Mrázek backstopped Toronto to a 5-4 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night at Scotiabank Arena, showcasing the best elements of his game.
When he’s on, he works aggressively, coming out of his crease to shut down shooting angles. He challenged Wings shooters, and while Detroit produced few dangerous chances, Mrázek looked solid as Toronto outshot Detroit 38-30. The Leafs went 1-4 during his absence.
More good news: captain John Tavares scored on a two-on-one in the third period to cap a three-point night and put the Leafs up 4-2. It’s the first time this season that they’ve scored more than three goals in a game.
The Tavares line with Mitch Marner and Alex Kerfoot had a huge night: Marner scored his first goal of the season and drove most of the dangerous chances the line created, while Kerfoot also popped a goal.
“Mitch was all around the net, and when it doesn’t go in you see the zero beside your name,” Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said of Marner, who notched his first goal on his 48th shot of the season. “So, I think we’ll see more of that from Mitch as his confidence builds. That line was huge tonight. I thought John was all over it too, and (Kerfoot) had a big goal for us.”
Mrázek’s win in his first game back gave the Leafs another jolt of confidence after they broke a losing skid in Chicago, then re-signed Morgan Rielly to a contract extension. The netminder’s return restores the tandem with Jack Campbell that was expected to be a strength. They will need equally strong showings from both goalies to make up lost ground.
“We have an excellent training staff here and they helped me get back sooner (than expected),” said Mrázek, who returned in just over two weeks. “It felt good to get back into a game, and it was a big win for us.”

In any case, the Maple Leafs’ stars, their defense, and their goaltending all held up opposite the Wings, as they told the Canadian Press’s Joshua Clipperton…

Tavares had a goal and two assists Saturday as Toronto beat Detroit 5-4 in a game that saw the home side build leads of 3-1, 4-2 and 5-3 in the final 20 minutes only to see the Red Wings claw back each time to get within one.
“(Head coach Sheldon Keefe) addressed that after game,” Tavares said. “The win should feel a little better than it does. We want to fix the recipe a little bit in terms of the way we finished off in the third period. We didn’t dictate … but overall, some good steps taken in certain areas.”
Jake Muzzin and Alexander Kerfoot, with a goal and an assist each, Mitch Marner and Michael Bunting provided the rest of the offence for Toronto (4-4-1). Petr Mrazek made 27 saves for his first victory with the Leafs.
“Some mixed emotions,” Muzzin said of the performance. “We’ll take the win. We did a lot of good things. But we definitely have to tighten some things up and play better with the lead.”
…
Drafted in the fifth round by Detroit back in 2010 before playing 166 games for the organization over six seasons, Mrazek kept things even with a nice stop on Michael Rasmussen before Bunting pushed Toronto ahead late in the period to set the stage for a back-and-forth final 20 minutes.
“We had a number of guys that had strong games,” Keefe said. “In the third period, you need to be really connected, really focusing and really purposeful on how you play when you have leads. We didn’t have enough to that. But let’s not kid ourselves — it’s hard to win games in this league.”

The Leafs continued while speaking with NHL.com’s Dave McCarthy…

Michael Bunting made it 2-1 with 18 seconds left in the second when he redirected a slap pass from Jason Spezza at the right hash marks on the power play. The goal ended an 0-for-17 stretch for Toronto with the man-advantage dating to Oct. 14.
“Spezza has great vision. He found me and it was pretty easy just to put two hands on my stick and just tip it in,” Bunting said. “Any time we get out there on the power play, we at least want to build some energy and be able to put a puck in the net. That builds even more energy, so we were pretty happy about that.”
Kerfoot scored 17 seconds into the third period to make it 3-1 when he one-timed a pass from Tavares, who was behind the net.
…
After Vladislav Namestnikov again cut the lead to 4-3 at 10:11, Mitchell Marner intercepted a pass by Nick Leddy and tucked the puck into an open net for his first of the season to make it 5-3 at 17:55.
“Huge for [Marner],” Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said. “Two really strong games now in a row for him where I thought he’s been really dominant with the puck, confident and comfortable. He’s done a nice job to help his linemates come alive. It’s one thing to do that, but it’s another thing to see a zero beside your name, so for him to get that tonight was big. Those are the types of goals that seem to go in and then things seem to fall in place.”
Filip Hronek made it 5-4 at 19:31 with Greiss pulled for the extra attacker. Danny DeKeyser then had a chance to tie it with one second remaining, but his backhand was stopped by Mrazek.
“It’s hard to get wins in this League, (so) we’ll take them whenever we can,” Kerfoot said. “We’re building towards something, but we are not there yet and that showed tonight. It was just not clean enough, gave up too many chances. Getting a goal going into the third period, we’d like to close the game out a little better than that.”

The Red Wings were equally grumpy after the game–or the coach was, anyway–as he told DetroitRedWings.com’s Josh Berenter…

Detroit coach Jeff Blashill was proud of his team’s effort, but isn’t satisfied with moral victories.
“We didn’t go away, but we don’t want to be close,” Blashill said after the game. “Ultimately, we were too loose defensively. We kept grinding, we did create chances, but we don’t want to trade chance for chance, especially against a team as talented as Toronto. We’ve got to make sure we tighten up.”
…
Veleno was called up to the Red Wings from the Grand Rapids Griffins on Saturday morning. The center had to travel to Detroit and get tested for COVID-19, and then drove to Toronto with executive vice president and general manager Steve Yzerman.
Blashill said he was pleased with Veleno’s performance, especially considering the circumstances.
“He was good in the third. It took a little bit to get his feet underneath him, which is understandable considering he had a day of travel, but I thought he played well,” Blashill said. “He’s got strength on the puck, he’s got a good skillset, so we thought he could come in and give us our best chance to fill in for the guys that were missing.”
Veleno said he felt comfortable in his season debut with Detroit and felt better as the game progressed.
“I felt pretty good,” Veleno said. “The legs weren’t all there in the first period, but I think in the second period, I had a better response and I think I got better as the game went on. It was just nice to be on the ice, suiting up for my first game this year and hopefully, it can continue into the future.”

Blashill also praised Veleno while speaking with the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan…

“He was good in the third,” Blashill said. “Certainly the way he played in the third gives a coach confidence to put him out there. That’s a good step.”

And Veleno told the tale of his “car service” ride to Toronto…

Veleno was playing in his first NHL game this season after being recalled from Grand Rapids — Veleno drove the four hours to Toronto with general manager Steve Yzerman — cut the Leafs lead to 3-2 at 1:36 of the third period, just a little over a minute after Toronto had taken a two -goal lead.
Yzerman was planning to drive to Toronto, and Veleno figured that was a better option than getting a commercial flight to Toronto given the time frame. Veleno found out he was Detroit-bound late Friday and left Grand Rapids early Saturday morning. Still, it could be a little daunting spending that much time in the car with your boss, who also happens to be a Hall of Fame hockey player.
“We talked some hockey, there was the Michigan-Michigan State football game, we had that on the radio for a little bit,” Veleno said. “I ended up sleeping a little bit, I was tired. But we talked a bit. It was nice of him to drive me to the game. I was a little shy, I wasn’t sure what to talk about, but once I got to spend a little time in the car I got a little more comfortable. He’s a real good person and real easy to talk to. He made the drive fairly easy.”
Veleno showed the offensive skills, and defensive presence, in the third period to be another useful young player in the lineup.
“That was my mentality tonight, I wanted to work hard and show what I could bring at this level, and how I can play,” Veleno said. “But at the same time I wanted to play with confidence and have some fun and I tried my best to do those things and be successful.”

But the coach growled about his own team’s defensive issues again:

“Lot of credit to them, they’re a real offensive team and when they are on the attack they’re hard to handle,” Blashill said. “We did a poor job in our defensive zone, and they make it hard on you, and we didn’t hold our lines well enough so they were in our end a lot. We had chances to win the hockey game but we just have to find a way to win.”

So, for better or worse, the Bertuzzi-less Red Wings drop to 4-3-and-2, with road games in Montreal (Tuesday), Boston (Thursday) and Buffalo (next Saturday) all on tap before heading home for four games. MLive’s Ansar Khan took note of the Wings’ futility in Toronto of late…

These teams hadn’t met since the COVID-shortened 2019-20 season, when Toronto won all three games from the Red Wings, outscoring them 15-3.
The Red Wings haven’t defeated Toronto since Feb. 1, 2019 (3-2 in overtime in Detroit).
It was the start of a four-game trip for the Red Wings.

And, among the Free Press’s Helene St. James’ observations:

Trick and treat: During a man advantage in the second period, rookie defenseman Moritz Seider had the puck along the boards, just inside the blue line, when he spun around and aimed a pass at Lucas Raymond. Pierre Engvall intercepted the puck and raced up ice, but his shot hit a goal post. Seider amended for his lack of care on the same shift. Regaining control of the puck, Seider slipped a pass to Zadina, who collected it and fired a wrist shot that eluded former Wings goalie Petr Mrazek. Seider has assists in five straight games.

Mo’s hanging in there:

Most assists by a D-man in their first 9 career games:
10- Will Butcher (2017)
8- Moritz Seider (’21) Getting 1 with the #RedWings vs TOR tonight
8- Phil Housley (1982)
8- Gary Suter (’86)
8- Alexei Zhitnik (’92)
8- Marek Zidlicky (2003)
8- Zach Werenski (’16)
8- Cale Makar (’19) pic.twitter.com/H8rNqkf6YX— StatsCentre (@StatsCentre) October 31, 2021

Update: Here’s more from grumpy coach Blashill, per Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff:

Among the time-honored taboos in the hockey are that teams should never surrender goals in the final or first minute of a period. The Red Wings did both in Saturday’s loss. And they committed the former faux pas twice.

Detroit allowed Toronto’s first goal with 14 seconds remaining in the opening period. The Red Wings fell behind 2-1 on a goal with 18 seconds to play in the second frame. Just 17 seconds after the drop of the puck to start the third period, the Leafs made it 3-1.

Late goals, an early goal and overall lax defensive play ended up spelling doom for the Detroit Red Wings in a 5-4 loss Saturday to the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Scotiabank Centre.

Here are five takeaways from the Red Wings’ third regulation time setback of the NHL season.

Red Wings Committing Two Of Hockey’s Cardinal Sins

Among the time-honored taboos in the hockey are that teams should never surrender goals in the final or first minute of a period. The Red Wings did both in Saturday’s loss. And they committed the former faux pas twice.
Detroit allowed Toronto’s first goal with 14 seconds remaining in the opening period. The Red Wings fell behind 2-1 on a goal with 18 seconds to play in the second frame. Just 17 seconds after the drop of the puck to start the third period, the Leafs made it 3-1.
“It’s momentum and you feel like – especially the late goals – you could’ve got our of those periods without giving them up,” Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “I thought in the first we would’ve been lucky to get out without giving up a goal. We were right there and we gotta find a way to finish that period out, gain our feet a little bit better and get going.
“Obviously, the one right away in the third hurts. Now it’s a credit to our guys that they didn’t back down and kept fighting but ultimately, you can’t give up that many goals and expect to win. We gotta do a better job defensively.”

Multimedia:

Highlights: NHL.com posted a 9:08 highlight clip: