Leafs cruise past Wings
Last Updated: Sunday, November 8, 2009 | 1:15 AM ET
By Brandon Hicks, CBC Sports
It was a series of firsts for the Toronto Maple Leafs during Hall of Fame Night on Saturday.
Phil Kessel scored his first goal in a Toronto uniform and the Maple Leafs won back-to-back games for the first time this season as they defeated the visiting Detroit Red Wings 5-1.
Wayne Primeau and Jeff Finger also scored their first goals of the season for the Leafs (3-7-5), who have earned points in their past seven games after starting the season with eight straight losses.
Much of the improvement started in Toronto's crease. Swedish rookie netminder Jonas Gustavsson had another solid night in net for the Leafs. He turned away 35 Detroit shots and was vying for his first career shutout before Dan Cleary broke the bid in the third.
"When you get solid goaltending it certainly helps," Leafs coach Ron Wilson said. "I think a big part of the game was a difference in the goaltending on both sides. Obviously having Phil Kessel in there as well, we just have a different feel."
Gustavsson is 2-2-3 on the season and appears to be the clear No. 1 starter in Toronto. He was especially sharp in the opening minutes of the second and third periods on Saturday when the Wings turned up the heat.
"Everybody on the team wants to win and wants to be successful," said Gustavsson. "We want the fans to be happy. When we started playing better, everybody's going to be happy. If we can just continue like this, it's going to be a fun season."
Primeau and Kessel scored goals to open up a 2-0 Toronto lead in the first period and Finger added another in the second.
After Cleary made it 3-1 six minutes into the third period, Toronto's John Mitchell restored the Leafs' three-goal lead on the power play near the midway point of the frame. Alexei Ponikarovsky rounded out the scoring at 12:44.
The Leafs ended Detroit's three-game winning streak during a battle between Olympic head coaches.
Wilson will be behind the U.S. bench during the Vancouver Olympics in February and Wings coach Mike Babcock will be leading Canada's push for gold.
"We're obviously not scoring like we have in the past," said Babcock. "I think one of the things we had to do is get our head around the fact that we've got the same sweaters [but] we can't play the same way. We've got to find a way to win."
The Leafs entered the game with the league's No. 2 power play and went 1-for-4 Saturday. The Wings (7-5-3) were 0-for-5.
Kessel and Finger both had a goal and an assist while Toronto defenceman Ian White added two assists.
Primeau opens scoring
Primeau gave the Leafs a 1-0 lead at 10:34 of the first, and Kessel opened his Toronto account at 19:34 of the frame with one of the easiest goals he'll ever score.
The 22-year-old tapped the puck into an open net millimetres away from the goal-line after Jason Blake's shot off a rebound went trickling through Chris Osgood's legs.
"It's just an instinct thing," Kessel said. "You never know if a guy's behind you. All of sudden I don't touch it and then some guy hits it out of there, you've got to bury it. I'd expect anyone else to bury that one too."
Finger made it 3-0 when his shot deflected off Cleary's stick and into the cage at 5:21 of the second.
Cleary cut into the Toronto lead at 5:59 of the third. He received a great breakaway pass from Brian Rafalski and fired a shot past Gustavsson for his second goal of the season.
Mitchell scored the Leafs' fourth goal by deflecting a Kessel shot past Osgood at 9:22 during a power play. Ponikarovsky slid a puck through Osgood's legs at 12:44 for his sixth of the season.
Detroit's Jason Williams was injured with 12 minutes to go in the second period as he got tangled up with a Leaf behind the Toronto goal and fell awkwardly on his right leg.
He had to be helped off the ice. After the game, Babcock said Williams suffered a broken leg, joining Johan Franzen and Valtteri Filppula in the Detroit infirmary.
Toronto defenceman Mike Komisarek also picked up an undisclosed injury and left the game in the third.
The Hockey Hall of Fame class of 2009 was in attendance at the Air Canada Centre, as former players Steve Yzerman, Brian Leetch, Brett Hull, Luc Robitaille and builder Lou Lamiorello were honoured in a ceremony before the puck was dropped. They will be formally inducted into the hall on Monday in Toronto.
With files from The Canadian Press
