Maple Leafs at Red Wings
The Toronto Maple Leafs went through some early-season struggles away from home but have righted the ship, going nearly two months without a regulation loss on the road. Toronto hopes to continue that success as it begins a six-game road trip against the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday.
The Maple Leafs won only two of their first 12 road games (2-6-4) but have gone 8-0-2 since suffering a 3-0 loss at Calgary on Nov. 30. They exacted revenge with a 4-0 home triumph over the Flames on Monday and aim for their second win this month against Detroit, which is kicking off a three-game homestand with its final contest before the All-Star break. The Red Wings are coming off their third consecutive overtime loss, a 4-3 setback in Boston on Tuesday in which they allowed a 3-2 lead to disappear in the third period. The Original Six rivals had their first meeting of the season in the Centennial Classic at Toronto's Exhibition Stadium on Jan. 1, when rookie Auston Matthews scored his second of the game at 3:40 of overtime to give the Maple Leafs a 5-4 victory after they squandered a three-goal advantage over the final 6:06 of the third session.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, Sportsnet (Toronto), FSN Detroit
ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS (22-14-9): Nazem Kadri reached a pair of milestones in the win over Calgary, netting a pair of tallies to eclipse the 100-goal plateau for his career (101) and hit the 20-goal mark for the second time during his NHL tenure. "It's exciting to be able to share (the milestones) with my teammates," the 26-year-old told reporters. "Obviously, I've put in a lot of hard work but, at the end of the day, the only reason I care about that is because it helps our team win." The seventh-overall pick of the 2009 draft, Kadri has scored 10 goals in his last 15 games and needs one to surpass the career high he set in 2013-14.
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (20-19-9): Detroit, which has been involved in five consecutive one-goal decisions and four straight contests that have gone beyond regulation, faced the Bruins without Thomas Vanek (lower body) and Dylan Larkin (upper body), with the latter being placed on seven-day injured reserve. Vanek shares the team's lead in goals with Larkin at 12 apiece and entered Tuesday tied with Henrik Zetterberg for first in scoring before the captain notched two assists versus Boston to raise his point total to 33. Drew Miller was recalled from Grand Rapids and in the lineup Tuesday, one day after clearing waivers and being assigned to the American Hockey League club.
OVERTIME
1. Maple Leafs LW James van Riemsdyk had his 10-game point streak (three goals, 11 assists) halted Monday, but rookie C Mitch Marner has collected three tallies and 10 assists (one of each versus Calgary) over his last 10 contests to take over the team scoring lead with 39 points.
2. Detroit RW Gustav Nyquist reached a milestone Tuesday, registering his 100th career assist.
3. Toronto D Roman Polak's next game will be the 600th of his career.