Toronto, ON (SportsNetwork.com) – Tyler Bozak scored two goals in the third
period to lift the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 4-1 victory over the Detroit Red
Wings on Saturday.
Leo Komarov tallied a goal and an assist and Peter Holland also lit the lamp
for Toronto, which has won two straight on the heels of a three-game skid.
Jonathan Bernier turned aside 26 shots in the win.
Tomas Tatar provided Detroit’s lone marker and Jimmy Howard made 24 saves in
defeat.
Bozak began a string of three unanswered goals for Toronto in the third. After
stripping Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall of the puck at the blue
line, Bozak finished off a short-handed breakaway by roofing a backhander over
the glove of Howard to give Toronto a 2-1 lead 3:44 into the final stanza.
Holland raced into the Detroit zone and beat Howard with a short-side wrister
with 4:22 remaining and Bozak’s empty-net tally with 1:47 to play capped the
scoring.
Toronto struck first in the opening stanza. Mike Santorelli skated up the
right side, but lost an edge. Komarov, however, corralled the loose puck and
barreled in on net, stuffing the puck into the net at 11:39.
Xavier Ouellet took a pass at the point, skated up to the top of the left
circle and dished a pass to Tatar, who snapped a shot past Bernier from the
side of the net for a tie game just past the midway point of the second.
Game Notes
The Maple Leafs improved to 8-0-0 this season when scoring first … Tatar now
has five goals in his last five games … Detroit forward Pavel Datsyuk missed
a third straight game due to a groin injury … Toronto defenseman Roman Polak
suffered a lower-body injury in the second period and did not return.
