Red Wings at Maple Leafs
Goaltender Jonas Gustavsson makes his return to the Air Canada Centre when he leads the visiting Detroit Red Wings into Saturday night's matchup against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Gustavsson played three seasons with the Maple Leafs before signing a two-year deal with Detroit. "For myself, right away I got a chance to play a lot of games, get some experience," Gustavsson said of his time in Toronto. "I had some good stretches and not so good stretches. It was a learning period for me."
Goaltending always seems to be an issue for the Maple Leafs and it was never more evident than a 10-game stretch from Nov. 25 to Dec. 12, when Toronto allowed at least four goals on six occasions. James Reimer stopped the team's 1-5-0 skid with a 34-save effort in Thursday's 2-1 shootout victory over Phoenix to build momentum for the first of two meetings with Detroit in 12 days. The Original Six rivals will also square off again in the Winter Classic on Jan. 1 at the University of Michigan.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NHL Network, CBC (Toronto), FSN Detroit
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (16-12-9): Injury-riddled Detroit halted a six-game winless drought (0-4-2) with a 3-2 overtime victory over Calgary on Thursday, getting a pair of goals - including the game-winner - from veteran Daniel Alfredsson. The 41-year-old Alfredsson, who signed with the Red Wings in the offseason after spending 17 seasons with the Ottawa Senators, ended an eight-game goalless drought. "You need your big guys, especially when you're short-handed, especially offensively for us because of the players we dressed," Detroit coach Mike Babcock said. "Our team competed."
ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS (18-16-3): Reimer got the start Thursday because Jonathan Bernier was ailing but he came up big after Toronto had lost 10 of its previous 13 (3-8-2) and made it possible for Joffrey Lupul's deciding goal in the shootout. "It hasn't been a good feeling around here the past couple days," Lupul said. "It's funny how even with an ugly, grind-it-out win like that, you come to the rink tomorrow feeling a lot better about yourselves." Troy Bodie scored the lone regulation goal for the Maple Leafs - his first with the team and his first NHL tally since March 2011.
OVERTIME
1. Toronto has won all four home meetings against the Red Wings dating to December 2003.
2. Red Wings D Danny DeKeyser (shoulder) is expected to return to the lineup Saturday after missing the last 15 games.
3. Detroit has converted on only 2-of-25 power-play chances over the past seven games.