Maple Leafs ride Andersen's second straight shutout to 4-0 win
DETROIT -- Fredrik Andersen made 22 saves for his third shutout of the season and second is as many games and also picked up an assist on a goal by Nikita Soshnikov as the Toronto Maple Leafs dropped the Detroit Red Wings 4-0 on Wednesday night.
The goalie's best stop was a third-period breakaway pad save on Red Wings forward Darren Helm. Anthony Mantha also came close to scoring when the Detroit right winger hit the goalpost in the first period.
Andersen, who blanked the Calgary Flames 4-0 on Monday, is the first Leafs netminder to post shutouts in consecutive games since Ben Scrivens against the Ottawa Senators and Florida Panthers on Feb. 16-18, 2013.
Toronto ended Detroit's three-game home-ice point streak (2-0-1) and the Leafs ran their road point streak to 11 games (9-0-2). The Red Wings are 0-1-3 in their last four games.
Just 5:30 into the first period, Toronto's Auston Matthews picked up a loose puck in the Detroit slot area and calmly lifted a high backhand shot over the glove of Red Wings goalie Petr Mrazek. It was his 23rd goal of the season, which leads all NHL rookies.
Toronto defenseman Roman Polak increased the advantage to 2-0 late in the second period when his point shot banked off the right shin of Detroit defenseman Jonathan Ericsson and into the net.
Less than five minutes into the third period, James Van Riemsdyk upped the Leafs' edge to 3-0 when his sharp-angle backhander banked off Mrazek and into the net. Van Riemsdyk has 15 points (4-11-15) in his last 15 games.
It was 4-0 five minutes later when Soshnikov's seemingly harmless wrist shot skimmed between Mrazek's blocker and his body.
Mrazek is 0-6-2 in his last eight starts but did get a win in relief of Jared Coreau on Jan. 18 against Boston.
NOTES: Detroit F Thomas Vanek, who shares the team lead with 12 goals, returned to action after missing one game with a lower-body injury. F Dylan Larkin (upper-body injury), who also has 12 goals, missed his second straight game. ... Red Wings G Jimmy Howard (knee), D Brendan Smith (knee) and F Steve Ott (shoulder) are on IR. Ott hasn't played since being injured in a fight with Toronto's Matt Martin in the Jan. 1 Centennial Classic against the Maple Leafs. ... Detroit scratches were Ds Alexey Marchenko and Ryan Sproul and F Drew Miller. Leafs scratches were D Morgan Rielly (lower-body injury), D Frankie Corrado and F Josh Leivo. Rielly has missed the last four games. ... Leafs F Ben Smith (upper-body injury) is on IR. ... Toronto D Roman Polak played his 600th NHL game. ... Entering the game, the Leafs were 10-4-2 against Atlantic Division opponents.