from Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press,

Invigorated by a big win on the road, the Detroit Red Wings returned home and tested themselves against an Original Six rival.

A lively crowd at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday provided energy as the Wings took on the high-power Toronto Maple Leafs, 24 hours after winning in a shootout at Pittsburgh. The Wings had a two-goal lead with 10 minutes to play, but the Leafs scored five times to come away with a 7-4 victory

It was a disappointing finish for the Wings (19-20-6) after a good start, and tarnished Jeff Blashill's 500th game behind Detroit's bench.

"We’re up 4-2, there’s got to be a way to win that game," captain Dylan Larkin said. "We defended too much. We didn’t make it hard on them in the third and that’s the game.

"I thought we had great energy, it was a great atmosphere — it always is against those guys. We just have to find a way to hang onto their lead there."

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from Bob Duff of Detroit Hockey Now,

Detroit entered play Saturday as the NHL’s worst third-period team. Then the Wings went out and dug the hole a little deeper.

They’ve allowed an NHL-high 63 third-period goals. The Leafs actually scored their five goals in the final 10:32 of the third frame.

“I thought we got too loose in the second, to be honest with you,” Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “I thought we gave up some opportunities we didn’t need to.

“Then in the third they have all the momentum and we didn’t have enough push back. We didn’t have enough shifts were we didn’t defend. And then obviously our D zone coverage was no good.

“They’re the best offensive team in the O zone and we’ve been one of the worst in the D zone and that’s how it played out.”

more

Below find Larkin and Blashill in one video and the game highlights.