Maple Leafs at Red Wings
Auston Matthews and John Tavares have already made history in 2018-19, as the two centers became the third set of teammates in NHL history to each score at least six goals in the first four games of a season. Matthews (seven goals) and Tavares (six) aim to continue their torrid stretch as the Toronto Maple Leafs bid to remain perfect on their road trip on Thursday when they face the Detroit Red Wings.
Matthews, who joined Tavares in scoring twice in Tuesday's 7-4 win against Dallas, is the sixth player in Toronto history to score at least one goal in the first four games. "When it's going in, it's always a really good feeling. You want to keep it going, keep getting those opportunities and continue to generate chances because it's going to get harder and harder as the season goes along," the 21-year-old Matthews said. While the Maple Leafs have scored seven goals in back-to-back games, Detroit has mustered just two in each of their three fruitless contests this season. Tyler Bertuzzi scored for the second time in three games in Monday's 3-2 shootout loss to Anaheim and also tallied in the Red Wings' last encounter with Toronto -- a 4-3 Maple Leafs' win on March 24.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, TSN4 (Toronto), FS Detroit
ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS (3-1-0): Tavares has paid immediate dividends since signing a seven-year, $77 million contract to join his hometown team and enters Thursday's tilt with five goals in his last two outings. "We've got talent and we do the right thing and we compete and play hard and develop an identity within our group. I think we believe in creating opportunities with the skill sets we have," the 28-year-old Tavares said. Defenseman Morgan Rielly, who notched four assists on Tuesday to match Matthews with a team-high 10 points, scored and set up a goal in Toronto's 6-3 win over Detroit in the teams' first meeting last season (Oct. 18).
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (0-1-2): Veteran defenseman Niklas Kronwall is feeling confident that he'll make his season debut on Thursday after being plagued by a lower-body injury, and the timing couldn't be better for Detroit. The potential addition of the 37-year-old Swede will help an ailing defense that already is without Mike Green (virus), Jonathan Ericsson (upper body) and Trevor Daley (upper body) while rookie Dennis Cholowski remains in question with an upper-body injury. "It really is crazy," Kronwall said of the injuries. "But in saying that, we've been able to see the younger guys even more, I think they've done a tremendous job so far."
OVERTIME
1. Detroit G Jimmy Howard owns a 6-4-2 mark with a 2.44 goals-against average and .904 save percentage in 14 career encounters with Toronto.
2. Maple Leafs C Mitch Marner answered back-to-back two-point efforts with a goal and three assists at Dallas on Tuesday.
3. Red Wings LW Justin Abdelkader, who has been held without a point this season, failed to dent the scoresheet in four games versus Toronto in 2017-18.