Detroit Red Wings centre Oskar Sundqvist celebrates a goal by centre Robby Fabbri (not pictured) over Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Ilya Samsonov in the second period at Little Caesars Arena. The Red Wings won 4-1 on Jan. 12, 2023.Rick Osentoski/USA TODAY Sports via Reuters
Lucas Raymond had a goal and two assists as the Detroit Red Wings beat Toronto 4-1 on Thursday night for their first victory over the Maple Leafs in nearly four years.
Robby Fabbri, Ben Chiarot and Moritz Seider also scored for Detroit and Ville Husso stopped 31 shots. Rasmus Sandin scored for the Maple Leafs, who had won three in a row.
Detroit’s previous win against the Maple Leafs was a 3-2 overtime victory on Feb. 1, 2019. Toronto had won nine in a row in regulation over the Red Wings, outscoring them 48-21.
The Maple Leafs are 18-2-2 vs. Detroit since the start of the 2016-17 season.
“Tonight we had a good five-on-five game, we executed on special teams and we flipped a tight game,” Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said. “A very good win for us.”
Raymond scored at 8:48 of the first period to put the Red Wings in front. It was his second goal in as many games and fourth in the last six games.
Detroit also led 1-0 Saturday at Toronto, but ended up losing 4-1. This time, the Red Wings took a 2-0 advantage at 3:49 of the second when Fabbri beat goaltender Ilya Samsonov on a power play.
Fabbri scored for the third time in four games since returning Jan. 4 from knee surgery. He injured his knee in a game on March 10, 2022, against the Minnesota Wild.
“I’m just going off more on getting back to my game, getting my legs going and all that and goals are coming,” Fabbri said. “I’m not going to complain about that. Getting them in wins definitely feels a lot better.”
Less than four minutes later, Toronto scored when Sandin’s shot from the point deflected off the stick blade of Detroit captain Dylan Larkin and past Husso.
In the third period, Chiarot scored an empty-net goal and Seider then beat Samsonov with 19.8 seconds to go.
Playing his second NHL game, Toronto forward Bobby McMann thought he’d scored his first career goal 56 seconds after the opening faceoff. After review, it was ruled that McMann had used a distinct kicking motion to direct the puck in the net and the goal was disallowed.
“That was sad, because he gets his first career goal and he’s celebrating and everyone is happy for him, and then we didn’t really know what was going on,” Samsonov said. “He’s going to get one soon, though. He’s a good player.”
Samsonov made 19 saves for Toronto.
On Tuesday, the Red Wings topped Winnipeg 7-5, ending the Jets’ five-game winning streak.
“We feel like we can win every night and this is a good example, two wins over two really good teams this week so far,” Lalonde said.
The Leafs were 0-for-5 on the power play and Detroit was 1-for-5 with the man advantage.
“They played fast and hard and they were competitive right from the get-go,” Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said of the Red Wings. “You could tell they were refreshed and focus and all those things.”
The Maple Leafs have been on the ice a lot lately.
“I loved the effort – not just on a back-to-back on our fifth game in eight days,” Keefe said. “We punched back in the second period when too often you let a game run away on you.”
“We got the goal and we were fighting basically right to the end. We just didn’t generate enough offence,” he said.
Trainer’s room
The Maple Leafs played their second game without centre Auston Matthews. The 2021-22 NHL MVP is out with an undisclosed injury that Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe indicated has to do with lingering issues. The Leafs are listing Matthews as day to day.
Up next
Leafs: Finish a two-game road trip Saturday at Boston.
Red Wings: Complete a three-game homestand Saturday against the Columbus Blue Jackets.