Red Wings 4, Maple Leafs 3: Detroit Claims Dress Rehearsal Victory

Detroit, MI—Through about 35 minutes of hockey, the Detroit Red Wings appeared bound for disappointment.  

Playing against a Toronto Maple Leafs team that featured just two defenseman who played an NHL game last season, the Red Wings appeared disconnected, struggling to gain safe passage through the neutral zone, much less create anything of consequence offensively.

Max Ellis (a Plymouth, MI native) got Toronto on the board first, beating Ville Husso with a wrist shot seven minutes into the second, and Tommy Miller (another Michigander, from West Bloomfield) scored from distance with Ellis taking away Husso's eyes at the net. With the 2-0 advantage, an inexperienced Maple Leaf line-up appeared to be gaining in confidence. 

Then, in a two-minute-and-twenty-seven-second spell late in the second period, Detroit scored thrice to overturn the 0-2 deficit on the strength of goals from Dylan Larkin, Ben Chiarot, and Joe Veleno.

"It's preseason, but you saw the guys out there—kinda took it upon ourselves as a group," said forward Christian Fischer.  "A lot of emotion out there, a lot of guys battling, going all out, which is just fun to see."

"It's preseason," Fischer continued.  "Guys could choose one side or the other and just kind of forget about it.  But when you look at our group there, every guy gave 100% tonight."  He added that there can be a deceptive difficulty to playing an AHL-heavy line-up, because of a general lack of familiarity with the opponent.

According to head coach Derek Lalonde, the Red Wings were "extremely slow" in the game's early stages, and that played into the hands of the Maple Leafs.  Lalonde credited the Leafs' organization in forging a 1-1-3 neutral zone trap, which bogged Detroit down further, while also noting that his team had to be quicker up ice to disrupt Toronto's structure.

For the Red Wings, the comeback began when a twirling David Perron managed to pull a puck off the wall and in one motion send an incisive cross-ice pass to Larkin at the far post.  The initial connection wasn't a clean one; instead, the puck deflected off the captain's boot, off a defender's skate, and on net, where Fischer and Larkin each took whacks until Larkin knocked it home.

That Perron got things headed in the right direction came as no surprise to Lalonde, who said after the game, "His legs probably aren't where they were when he started his career, but he just has this way of driving lines, calming lines, getting involved, playing predictable."  Lalonde added that Larkin and DeBrincat's best shift came in the third period, when he sent the pair out with Perron on their wing.

A minute-and-a-half after Larkin got the Red Wings on the board, Ben Chiarot tied the game with a one timer from long-range.  

After Andrew Copp lost a face-off in the offensive zone, Robby Fabbri and Copp combined to reclaim possession along the wall, before Copp worked the puck back to the point for Jeff Petry.  Petry played a pass straight across the blue line for his partner, and Chiarot's shot proved true with Fabbri and Daniel Sprong providing traffic at the goal mouth.

To return to the locker room on even terms would seem a small miracle after Detroit's slow start to the frame, but the Red Wings' fourth line of Fischer, Joe Veleno, and Klim Kostin had loftier aspirations.

They spent the entirety of the shift following Chiarot's marker in the offensive zone before a low-to-high play set up a long-range Fischer blast.  Fischer's one-timed slapper didn't filter through on net, but the rebound fell to Veleno, who snapped home the chance.

To Fischer, the fourth line's success stemmed from a steady increase in familiarity as the night wore on.  "The first we probably had a couple more turnovers than we'd like, but I think that's good," he said.  "You talk on the bench and talk after the period, and I thought the second and third were much better."

Lalonde was also impressed with the trio's effort, referring to them as an "identity line" and suggesting that he plans to keep them together for Thursday night's regular season opener.

Just over five minutes into the third, Daniel Sprong extended the lead to 4-2 with a blistering wrist shot.  Sprong's shot has impressed throughout the preseason, but this was perhaps the most formidable example to date.  Flat-footed, the Amsterdam-born winger corralled a bouncing pass, took a touch to load, then rifled a wrister over the shoulder of a helpless Joseph Woll.

Though Sprong's goal left the Red Wings in a comfortable position as the game pushed toward its conclusion, the Maple Leafs had one major surge left in them.  Head coach Sheldon Keefe lifted Woll for an extra attacker before an offensive zone face-off as the clock showed 2:48 to play.  Immediately off the draw, Jake Walman was whistled for interference, and Detroit had to play 6-on-4.

With 1:11 left on the clock, Sam Lafferty made a power move to tuck home a goal to draw within one before being crunched by Chiarot at the goal mouth.  Then, a Moritz Seider holding penalty with 28.2 seconds to play left Detroit at a 6-on-4 disadvantage again, but this time the Red Wings held firm to see out the victory.

It wasn't a 60-minute effort by any means, nor was it without blemishes.  Nonetheless, in their final tune-up before the games start counting, the Red Wings found the surge they needed to see off Toronto, closing the preseason having won five times in eight tries.