Maple Leafs 4, Red Wings 3


Joffrey Lupul scored the game-winning goal with just under 13 minutes to play and the Toronto Maple Leafs held off the visiting Detroit Red Wings 4-3 on Saturday night.

Lupul intercepted a pass behind the net and flicked the puck over goaltender Jimmy Howard to lift Toronto to its third straight victory and blunt Detroit's comeback.

Phil Kessel had a goal and an assist and captain Dion Phaneuf and Dave Steckel also tallied for the Maple Leafs, who blew a 3-0 lead but improved to 15-0-0 when leading after two periods.

Jonas Gustavsson turned aside 37 shots to win his third consecutive start for Toronto, which was outshot 40-18.

The Red Wings received second-period goals from veteran Todd Bertuzzi and Niklas Kronwall before drawing even on Jiri Hudler's goal at 4:32 of the third period.

The Maple Leafs jumped on the Red Wings and surged to a 3-0 lead in the first 11 1/2 minutes of the game.

Kessel converted a penalty shot after he was hooked by defenseman Ian White on a breakaway attempt at the 4:30 mark.

Phaneuf doubled the advantage on the power play, intercepting a clearing pass and ripping a blistering shot past Howard, who was denied his 100th victory.

Steckel made it 3-0 when he redirected a pass by Lupul into an open net at 11:36.

Season Series
TorontoStatsDetroit
1-0-0Vs0-1-0
4Goals3
22.2Shot %7.5
100.0Power Play %0.0
46.3Faceoff %53.7