Detroit Red Wings say victory over Leafs speaks volumes
Detroit Red Wings Patrick Kane, Lucas Raymond & Todd McLellan, Oct. 11, 2025 in Detroit.
TORONTO — Cam Talbot did everything he could to help the Detroit Red Wings.
The 38-year-old parried pucks all afternoon Monday, Oct. 13, as the Wings played their second straight game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, this time at Scotiabank Arena. Talbot made 38 saves as the Wings prevailed, 3-2.
Mason Appleton scored on a rebound with 44.1 seconds on the clock, and the Wings (2-1) held off the Leafs’ last push as they pulled their goalie.
The Wings had to play the second half of the game without top-line winger Lucas Raymond, who suffered an upper-body injury. Raymond assisted on Dylan Larkin’s power-play goal in the first period.
James van Riemsdyk, making his Wings debut, scored off a turnover at 4:25 of the third period, flipping the puck over the shoulder of Anthony Stolarz.
Talbot, making his second straight start, had a busy day as the Leafs tested him again and again, while counterpart Anthony Stolarz saw little directed at him by Wings skaters.
It took the Wings until the last minute of the period to double their shot total from two to four, and it took a man advantage to bail them out. Shortly after an 11-second overlap in penalties to the Leafs expired, Larkin scored his second power-play goal of the season when he eyed a loose puck and flipped a backhand into the net while falling down.
When van Riemsdyk scored early, it was only Detroit’s 12th shot on net. Soon after that, Talbot made his 29th save of the game, stymying Auston Matthews on his eighth shot attempt.
Matthew Knies ruined Talbot’s shutout bid at 7:21 of the third period when he tipped Bobby McMann’s pass from just outside the crease, left unguarded by the Wings.
Calle Järnkrok tied the game at 13:42, set up by Simon Benoit after the latter outmaneuvered rookie Axel Sandin Pellikka.
The Wings and Leafs played four-on-four for a two-minute stretch late in the third period after Larkin was called for embellishment on Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s high-sticking infraction.
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