The Detroit Red Wings took advantage of a stellar power-play unit to overwhelm the undisciplined Toronto Maple Leafs 5-1 Saturday night, as the two teams met for the first time in more than three years.

Forwards Mikael Samuelsson and Henrik Zetterberg scored a pair of goals apiece during the penalty-filled contest at Joe Louis Arena, while defenceman Mathieu Schneider chipped in with three assists.

Toronto Maple Leafs captain Mats Sundin, left, misses a chance on goal against Detroit Red Wings goalie Dominik Hasek Saturday night at Joe Louis Arena.
(Jerry S. Mendoza/Associated Press)

Remarkably, Saturday's contest marked the first matchup between these Original Six rivals since Toronto won 5-2 at the Air Canada Centre on Dec. 6, 2003.

The Red Wings (17-7-4) scored all five goals on the power play en route to their third straight win and fifth in six games.

Detroit fell one power-play goal shy of its all-time record for one game, scoring six in 1942 against the New York Rangers.

The Red Wings, owners of the 27th-ranked power play in the NHL this year, have scored 10 man-advantage goals in their last 10 games.

"Earlier in the year our power play was pretty good," said Detroit coach Mike Babcock. "It went into the tank and then we were playing well, but the puck wasn't going in."

The teams combined for 22 penalties for the game, with the Red Wings converting five of 14 chances.

The loss keeps the Leafs (13-13-5) winless during a two-week span that's seen them drop seven straight games.

Samuelsson kicks things off

The Red Wings got off to a 1-0 lead at 9:53 of the first period after Datsyuk sent a cross-ice pass to Samuelsson, who made no mistake burying a one-timer behind helpless Toronto goaltender Andrew Raycroft.

Detroit opened up a two-goal advantage less than nine minutes later. Raycroft steered Tomas Holmstrom's shot to the side of the Leaf net, but Zetterberg was there to convert his 10th goal of the season into the open net.

"They made some good plays and got some fortunate bounces," Toronto forward Michael Peca said.

The Leafs' out-of-control play helped Detroit to its third power-play goal at 10:42 of the second. Samuelsson finished off a Detroit rush by netting his second goal of the game when his wrist shot beat Raycroft high to the glove side.

It was the ninth power-play goal allowed by Toronto in the last 27 chances.

"On the penalty kill, we didn't get the job done," Leafs coach Paul Maurice said. "In the end, their power play was too good."

The Leafs quickly got one back with the man advantage less than two minutes later. After the Red Wings failed to clear the puck, defenceman Bryan McCabe one-timed a nifty feed by Kyle Wellwood over the top of a sprawled Dominik Hasek.

Despite allowing the goal, Hasek made 21 saves in limited work, including 11 in the opening period. The Red Wings' scoring barrage continued with only 1.6 seconds remaining in the second, allowing them to take a commanding 4-1 lead.

With the puck sitting out of the outstretched reach of Raycroft in the Toronto crease, Zetterberg jumped out from behind the net and swiped a shot behind the Leafs' netminder.

Maurice pulled Raycroft, who allowed four goals on 22 shots, in favour of Jean-Sebastien Aubin to start the third, but the change made little difference.

The Red Wings scored their fifth and final power-play goal just 1:15 into the third. Stationed at the top of the right faceoff circle, Dan Cleary beat Aubin to the stick side, giving Detroit an insurmountable 5-1 advantage.

"They took a lot of penalties and we capitalized," Zetterberg said.

Toronto was one of the Eastern Conference's best teams at the beginning of November, winning seven of eight games, before losing a 2-1 overtime decision in Boston on Nov. 16.

That loss sparked a dismal spell by the Leafs, as they have lost 10 of their last 12 games to drop out of the top eight in the East with 31 points.

With files from the Associated Press