Abel to Yzerman

Abel to Yzerman

Preview And Notes- Wings/Leafs

11/22/2014 at 11:56am EST

A hectic day for me so this post is not as detailed as I would like, but it's better than a blank space...

via David Alter of TorontoMapleLeafs.com,

The Maple Leafs get set to take on the Detroit Red Wings for the third time this season. Here are the Leafs three keys to a win against a Wings team that has been tough for them to beat.

Tough Test For The Power-Play

After going three straight games without a power-play goal, the Leafs finally broke through in that department on Thursday night. Detroit sports the second best power-play in the NHL at 89.6% just .1 back of first place Chicago. Winning the special teams department and scoring goals in high quantities is key.

Top Line Danger

Detroit’s number one offensive unit has been all kinds of trouble for the Maple Leafs. Henrik Zetterberg has an overtime winning goal and four assists against Toronto this season. He has 15 points in 11 career games against the Leafs. Gustav Nyquist and Johan Franzen both have six points in six career games against Toronto. If any of these three players is allowed room to work down low against the Leafs, it will be a long night.

Possession and Faceoffs

The Maple Leafs were able to limit the danger of Steven Stamkos limiting his opportunities to get the puck. Tyler Bozak led the way by winning 22 of 30 faceoffs on Thursday night. Detroit is third in the league in faceoffs. The Leafs aren’t too far away, sitting in 7th. Winning key faceoffs against the likes of Henrik Zetterberg could the difference between a win and a loss.

via Brian Hedger at NHL.com,

RED WINGS (10-4-5) at MAPLE LEAFS (10-8-2)

TV: CBC, FS-D

Season series: Detroit Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg led the way in the first two games against the Toronto Maple Leafs, which were played as a rare home-and-home set on back-to-back days. After pacing Detroit with four assists in a 4-1 win at Air Canada Centre, Zetterberg scored the game-winning goal at Joe Louis Arena with 10 seconds left in overtime of the second game. The Red Wings are 5-0-1 against the Maple Leafs since moving into the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference last season.

Red Wings team scope: Forward Tomas Tatar is red-hot. He has four goals and an assist in a four-game point streak and has scored the game-winning goal in two straight, including a 4-3 victory Thursday at the Winnipeg Jets. Jimmy Howard will get back in the net against Toronto, but backup Petr Mrazek impressed coach Mike Babcock by holding the Red Wings close Thursday in a game in which they started slowly. Detroit played without center Pavel Datsyuk (groin), who will also miss the game against the Maple Leafs. The Red Wings also have rookie defenseman Xavier Ouellette up from Grand Rapids while defenseman Brendan Smith (infected hand) is sidelined. Detroit, which opted not to practice Friday, has won three of its past four games and has earned at least a point in six of its previous seven.

Maple Leafs team scope: A 5-2 home victory Thursday against the Tampa Bay Lightning snapped a three-game losing skid and dimmed some of the negative spotlight on the Maple Leafs. They'd been outscored by a combined 15-4 margin in their previous two defeats and the level of criticism was high. A day after the big win, right wing Phil Kessel fell in practice Friday and left early after developing neck stiffness. Coach Randy Carlyle doesn't expect Kessel to miss the game Saturday. Forward Joffrey Lupul (hand) will not face the Red Wings, but his return is "imminent," according to Carlyle. Forward Brandon Kozun (ankle) is practicing but won't face Detroit, and forward David Booth (foot) was loaned to the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League for a conditioning stint. Defenseman Cody Franson had an assist Thursday to extend his point streak to nine games (two goals, nine assists). Carlyle did not reveal his goaltending choice.

DETROIT RED WINGS

THE MATCHUP

- Tonight is the 651st all-time meeting between DET and TOR
- Tonight marks the 3rd of 5 meetings this season between DET and TOR, 2nd of 3 in TOR – all 5 meetings will be played by 12/13
- DET’s all-time record vs. TOR: 280-273-93-4
- DET’s all-time road record at TOR: 108-166-47-1
- DET is 2-0 this season vs. TOR, winning 4-1 in TOR on 10/17 and 1-0 in overtime on 10/18 at home
- Last season marked the first time DET and TOR met as division foes since 1997-98
- Pavel Datsyuk has 13 points (1-12-13) in 11 games vs. TOR
- Gustav Nyquist has 6 points (4-2-6) in 6 games vs. TOR
- Henrik Zetterberg has 15 points (7-8-15) in 11 games vs. TOR
- Darren Helm recorded his first-ever hat trick on 3/29/14 at TOR
- Tomas Jurco and Riley Sheahan recorded their 1st NHL assists on 12/21/13 at TOR
- TOR’s top scorers vs. DET: Dion Phaneuf (7-10-17 in 26 GP), Joffrey Lupul (9-6-15 in 21 GP) and Phil Kessel (4-5-9 in 12 GP)
- Jonas Gustavsson was 39-45-15 with a 2.98 GAA and 5 SO in 107 games with TOR from 2009-12
- TOR has three alumni of the US NTDP: David Booth (2001-02), Phil Kessel (2003-05) and James van Riemsdyk (2005-07)
- TOR F David Booth is a Detroit native who recorded 105 points (45-60-105) in 134 games with Michigan State from 2002-06
- TOR F Mike Santorelli skated in 121 games with Northern Michigan from 2004-07, recording 110 points (61-49-110)
- Former Red Wing Brendan Shanahan was named TOR’s president this summer. Shanahan won 3 Stanley Cups with DET and recorded 633 points (309-324-633) in 716 games with DET from 1996-06

COACHING MILESTONES

Mike Babcock enters this game with a career 494-264-19-110 record, ranking 21st all time in victories. He is just three wins shy of entering the top-20 by tying Glen Sather. Additionally, Babcock ranks 31st in NHL history with 887 games behind the bench, sitting one game behind ARI head coach Dave Tippet and two behind Punch Imlach, former head coach of TOR and BUF.

RECENT/UPCOMING MILESTONES

- Kronwall passed Slava Kozlov to move into 24th in DET history at 608 games played on 11/7 vs. NJ
- Ericsson passed Doug Young to move into 19th among DET defensemen at 334 games played on 11/7 vs. NJ
- Franzen now ranks 18th in DET history with 184 goals after passing Sid Abel and 27th in games played at 579, passing Chris Chelios on 11/18 at CBJ
- Abdelkader reached 100 career points on 11/20 at WPG
- Kronwall is 2 points shy of tying Herbie Lewis (309) for 29th in franchise history and 3 points shy of tying Mickey Redmond (310) for 30th
- Franzen is 1 point shy of tying Kris Draper (23rd at 361 points) and 2 points away from tying Shawn Burr (22nd at 362 points) on DET’s all-time scoring leaders list
- Dan Cleary is 3 games away from 600 as a Red Wing

THIS DATE IN RED WINGS HISTORY

Nov. 21, 1927 – The Detroit Cougars drop a 2-1 decision to the Ottawa Senators in their first-ever game at Olympia Stadium

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

WORTH NOTING (Prior to the start of games Nov. 21)

- Toronto ranks third in NHL goals scored per game (3.15). Only Pittsburgh (3.65) and Tampa Bay (3.52) have scored more goals per game
- The Maple Leafs rank second in NHL hits behind only Los Angeles with 609 and first in NHL takeaways with 201
- Toronto is the sixth least penalized team in the NHL (9.2 penalty minutes/game)
- Toronto ranks 6th (tie) in NHL face-off percentage (52.6%)
- The Maple Leafs are 7-0-0 when scoring first
- Phil Kessel currently ranks fourth (tie) in league scoring with 23 points (11 goals, 12 assists) through 20 games
- Cody Franson is currently riding a nine-game point streak (two goals, nine assists) - the longest of his NHL career. Franson's point streak is the longest active streak in the NHL and one game shy of matching Tom Kurvers record for longest point streak by a Maple
Leaf defenceman (10 games - Jan. 15 - Feb. 7, 1990)
- Phil Kessel holds the NHL's sixth longest active games played streak, having skated in 384 consecutive games. The last time Kessel missed a game was October 31, 2009 against Montreal

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP: TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS vs. DETROIT RED WINGS

2013-14 Series: 1-2-1 (0-1-1 at Toronto)
All-Time Record: 277-278-94-1 (167-107-47-1 at Toronto)
Last Game: Saturday, October 18, 2014 at Detroit (Detroit 1, Toronto 0 OT/L)
Next Game: Wednesday, December 10, 2014 at Detroit
Current Streak: 4 Wins (Detroit)

CAREER NOTABLES VS. DETROIT RED WINGS

- Tonight's game marks the third of five meetings between Toronto and Detroit this season. Detroit beat Toronto 4-1 and 1-0 in overtime in back-to-back games earlier this season.
- Dion Phaneuf (one goal, three assists) and Joffrey Lupul (two goals, two assists) led the Maple Leafs with four points each last season against the Red Wings
- Stephane Robidas recorded his first NHL point (assist) against Detroit on November 1, 2000
- Peter Holland played his first NHL game against the Red Wings on November 5, 2011
- Three of four games Toronto and Detroit played last season were decided by one goal
- Dion Phaneuf leads the Maple Leafs with 17 career points (seven goals, 10 assists) in 26 games against Detroit

HOW THE 2014-15 MAPLE LEAFS WERE BUILT

Free Agents (7): Booth, Bozak, Clarkson, Robidas, Santorelli, Smith, Winnik
Trade (10): Bernier, Franson, Gardiner, Holland, Kessel, Kozun, Lupul, Phaneuf, Polak, van Riemsdyk
Draft (5): Kadri, Komarov, Leivo, Reimer, Rielly
Waivers (1): Panik

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