Leaf goaltender Anthony Stolarz turned away 39 shots, but it was not enough as Toronto dropped a 3-1 decision to the Red Wings at Scotiabank Arena Thursday night .
In the first of a home-and-home against the Detroit to end the preseason, the Maple Leafs faced a Wings’ offensive onslaught that eventually ruined a stellar night from the Toronto net-minder.
Despite being outplayed for much of the game, it was the Leafs who struck early. Off a scramble in front of the net and a clever pass from Matthew Knies, Auston Matthews wristed a shot past Detroit goalie Cam Talbot on the power play to give Toronto a 1-0 lead 2:08 into the game.
The Leafs have scored at least one power-play goal in every one of their exhibition games. The early marker was Matthew’s second goal of the preseason.
Unfortunately, other than the entertaining saves Stolarz was forced to make throughout the game, that tally was about the only thing that Leaf fans had to cheer for.
Aided by six power play opportunities, Detroit peppered the net all night to the tune of 42 shots, finally breaking through after Dylan Larkin outmuscled Oliver Ekman-Larson in front of the goal and slid one past Stolarz at 5:04 of the period.
The score remained tied until the 12:28 mark when Alex DeBrincat tapped in his first preseason goal off a falling down behind-the-back pass from forward Michael Brandsegg-Nygard. Emmit Finnie added an empty net goal for the Red Wings to close out the scoring.
The Maple Leafs play their final exhibition game Saturday night in Detroit.
