Tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Detroit Red Wings (1-1-1, three points) and Toronto Maple Leafs (2-2-0, four points) take the ice for the first of five meetings this season live from the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. The game can be live streamed here. Detroit fans can hear all of the action on 97.1 The Ticket while Toronto fans can do the same on TSN 1050.
This is the first game of a home-and-home between these two teams and Detroit comes in having lost two straight home games while Toronto has won two straight games.
The Red Wings are looking for some offense, averaging just two goals a game thus far through their first three matches while their defense and goaltending has been steady.
Gustav Nyquist tallied in the team's 3-2 shootout loss to the Boston Bruins Wednesday and has half of the team's goals with three. Johan Franzen has three assists thus far to tie Nyquist atop the team's score sheet with three points.
The Red Wings were happy to escape with a point against Boston.
"We were lucky to get one [point] here," Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg told MLive.com. "We looked a little tired. They took charge right away. Bits and pieces we started to play a little better, but overall I think they had this game."
Detroit is still missing Pavel Datsyuk, who is sidelined with a shoulder injury.
The Maple Leafs top line has been surging thus far this season and combined for seven points in a 6-3 victory over the New York Rangers Sunday and then added two goals and five points in the Maple Leaf's 3-2 overtime triumph over the Colorado Avalanche Tuesday.
The line of Tyler Bozak (3-3--6), Phil Kessel (2-3--5) and James van Riemsdyk (2-1--3) has been lethal for high-scoring Toronto. Joffrey Lupul, who is tied for third on the team with three points off of two tallies and one helper, may not play due to a lower-body injury.
"He had a lower-body injury that he tweaked it in the game the other night [against Colorado on Tuesday]," coach Randy Carlyle confirmed to the Toronto Sun.
Jimmy Howard is likely to suit up for a fourth straight game for Detroit and he owns a 1-1-1 record while yielding six goals on 82 shots in the three games.
Toronto has denied that there is a goaltending controversy with James Reimer and Jonathan Bernier. Reimer is 2-0-0 and has allowed four goals on 50 shots while Bernier is 0-2-0 and has yielded 10 goals on 85 shots.
The Red Wings took three of four from the Maple Leafs last season, with the lone Toronto win coming via a shootout at the 2014 Winter Classic.
The Red Wings look to snap a two-game skid while the Maple Leafs hope to extend their winning streak to three games when these teams take the ice tonight for the start of a home-and-home live from the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.
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