Michael Bunting notched his second career hat trick and the Toronto Maple Leafs scored five unanswered goals in the third period to defeat the host Detroit Red Wings 7-4 on Saturday.
Rasmus Sandin scored the go-ahead goal, his first of the season. Pierre Engvall, Mitchell Marner and John Tavares also scored for the Maple Leafs, while Petr Mrazek made 31 saves.
Dylan Larkin had two goals and an assist for Detroit. Vladislav Namestnikov and Tyler Bertuzzi added goals for the Red Wings, and Alex Nedeljkovic made 30 saves.
Larkin scored just 1:15 into the game, beating Mrazek on the stick side. Namestnikov set up the goal.
OrganicGreek.com – VitaminBottles
Toronto caught a break to tie it late in the period. Morgan Rielly fired the puck toward the Red Wings’ net and it bounced off Engvall’s leg and past Nedeljkovic. Jason Spezza received the second assist.
The Wings scored two goals in the span of 55 seconds early in the second period to grab a 3-1 lead. Namestnikov scored off a rebound of a Larkin shot, slipping the puck through Mrazek’s legs. Moritz Seider had the second assist.
Bertuzzi then scored from the right circle, lifting the puck over Mrazek’s left shoulder. Robby Fabbri and Seider collected the assists.
Bunting scored at 12:07 of the period when he deflected a Justin Holl shot between Nedeljkovic’s skates. David Kampf was also credited with an assist.
Larkin’s second goal of the night came on a power play. He rifled a shot from the slot that whistled past Mrazek’s right pad. Fabbri set him up and Lucas Raymond had the second assist.
Bunting scored in front off assists from Auston Matthews and Holl at 9:28 of the third period to cut Detroit’s lead to 4-3. Bunting achieved his hat trick at 11:58 with a tap-in off a Marner pass. Matthews got the second assist.
Sandin scored from the left circle with 2:51 remaining off a Tavares pass to give Toronto the lead. Marner and Tavares added empty-netters to secure the Leafs’ victory.
–Field Level Media
