TORONTO — The crowd out there who want the Red Wings to keep losing and gain better odds in the draft lottery probably hated this result.
Still, you want to think many Red Wings fans enjoyed Sunday's 5-2 victory over Toronto, in a game that still means quite a bit with the Maple Leafs looking to secure home-ice advantage.
The Wings completely reversed Friday's slow start with a three-goal first period Sunday, and never looked back against the Leafs.
Dylan Larkin scored his second goal of the night, and 30th of the season, restoring a two-goal lead, 4-2, at 10 minutes and 16 seconds of the third period and capped the hat trick with an empty-net goal.
Olli Maatta, Jonatan Berggren and Larkin scored first-period goals as the Wings dominated the first period. Goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic (40 saves) earned his third victory since returning from a minor-league stint in Grand Rapids.
Marco Kasper, the Wings' first-round draft pick last July, made his NHL debut and played 14 minutes, not looking out of place going up against the Leafs' star forwards. Defenseman Simon Edvinsson, playing his fifth game, logged over 21 minutes, only Moritz Seider had more, and continues to make a favorable early impression.
Kasper had a decent scoring chance in the second period, going after a rebound, and showed some of the feistiness that he's been for in his junior days.
Wings fans had to love a scrum late in the second period in which Kasper, Edvinsson, Seider and Lucas Raymond were squarely in a dust-up with the Leafs which Kasper instigated with some pushing behind the net.
"A guy in his first game, everyone has been through it, the first NHL game," Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde said of the team's excitement of a rookie's first game after Sunday's morning skate. "One hundred percent, of course (there's a little bit of emotion)."
Calle Jarnkrok and John Tavares (power play) scored for the Leafs (45-21-10).
Raymond appeared to be a marked man most of the game after upending Toronto goaltender Matt Murray in the first period. Raymond lost a skate edge and toppled under Murray, who appeared to hit his head and neck area hard on the ice. Murray, who has a history of concussion issues, left the game in favor of Samsonov after briefly attempting to clear his head.
With the victory, the Wings (34-33-9) tied St. Louis and Washington with 77 points but the Wings moved up to 22nd overall with a better win-percentage than those teams. The Wings are three points behind Ottawa (80) for 21st place, which would knock them out of any chance for the first pick overall (extremely small as it is).
But Wings players aren't concentrating on where they sit in the draft lottery. They're intent on finishing these final two weeks strong.
"We've kind of been saying all these games are building experiences for us," defenseman Jake Walman said. "These are teams that are eyeballing the playoffs for battling for spots and it's a good experience for us. We're a young team and these games are important for that and we're trying to put a good foot forward for the rest of the season.
"This is a good test, they have a top-notch forward group and it's always fun playing these guys. We get excited for these matchups."
Edvinsson was one player looking forward to the game, going against Swedish star William Nylander on the Leafs. Edvinsson watched many Leafs games in Sweden, and enjoyed watching offensive stars such as Nylander, Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner (who was rested Sunday).
"It's Canada and it's my first away game (playing), and against Toronto," Edvinsson said. "I've heard how crazy it is to play in here. I've seen a lot of NHL hockey and I've watched Toronto play and it's a good atmosphere in here and a good hockey team."
