DETROIT — Mitchell Marner scored to extend his point streak to 17 games for the Toronto Maple Leafs in a 4-2 win against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on Monday.
Marner has 23 points (six goals, 17 assists) during his point streak, which is one game shy of the longest in Maple Leafs history, held by Darryl Sittler (1977-78) and Ed Olczyk (1989-90).
“It’s a cool thing, but I know you never achieve anything in this game on your own,” Marner said.
Video: TOR@DET: Marner nets goal from the slot in the 2nd period
Austin Matthews and Rasmus Sandin each had a goal and an assist for Toronto (14-5-5), which swept a four-game road trip and is 7-0-2 in its past nine. Matt Murray made 42 saves.
“This was our best game of the trip,” Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said. “Our goaltender was outstanding, just like he’s been all trip. The way he’s playing, if he sees it, he’s stopping it.”
Moritz Seider had a goal and an assist for Detroit (11-6-4), which had its four-game winning streak end.
“We had a lot of chances, but we just didn’t put the puck in the net,” Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin said. “Give them credit, especially Murray, but we had looks in the slot and all around it. We just didn’t capitalize.”
Ville Husso allowed four goals on 13 shots before being replaced by Alex Nedeljkovic, who made 12 saves. It was the first time coach Derek Lalonde changed goalies during a game this season.
“I’m sure [Husso] would probably want three of those four goals back, but we put him in a tough spot,” Lalonde said. “We didn’t give up a shot until halfway through the first period, but that was a 3-on-1 with Auston. Matthews in the slot, and then we take a penalty.”
Video: TOR@DET: Matthews nets wrist shot from the middle
Seider gave the Red Wings a 1-0 lead at 4:45 of the first period. Murray made the initial save on Dominik Kubalik‘s shot, but he couldn’t find the rebound, and Seider finally got the puck over the line during a scramble in the crease.
Matthews tied it 1-1 at 8:24, scoring with a wrist shot from the top of the slot for his 11th goal.
William Nylander made it 2-1 with a power-play goal at 9:15, and Marner extended it to 3-1 with a shot that trickled through Husso’s legs 52 seconds into the second period.
Husso was then pulled after he was beaten by a shot from Sandin that made it 4-1 at 8:37. Husso was 7-1-2 in his previous 10 games.
“You never want to see your goalie get pulled, but [Husso] would be the first one to say he would want a couple of those back,” Larkin said. “He said that to us, but we know we’ve been relying on him a lot lately.”
Adam Erne tipped in Seider’s shot at 12:41 of the third period to pull Detroit within 4-2.
NOTES: The Red Wings outshot Toronto 35-20 at 5-on-5, their largest margin of the season, but were outscored 3-2. … Matthews has 29 points (16 goals, 13 assists) in 18 games against the Red Wings, the most he has against any United States-based team. He has 41 points (23 goals, 18 assists) against the Ottawa Senators and 34 points (22 goals, 12 assists) against the Montreal Canadiens, but those are in 27 and 28 games, respectively.
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