Mitch Marner's hat trick sends Maple Leafs past Red Wings

Field Level Media|published: Fri 27th December, 21:52 2024

Dec 27, 2024; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Toronto Maple Leafs right wing Mitch Marner (16) celebrates after scoring in the first period against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

Mitch Marner notched his third career hat trick with three straight goals within the first two periods and visiting Toronto wrecked Todd McLellan's head coaching debut with a 5-2 victory over Detroit on Friday night.

Marner scored twice in the first period and added another goal late in the second as the Maple Leafs built a 5-0 lead. He had a career-high four goals against Detroit on Feb. 26, 2022.

Toronto's David Kampf scored his first goal of the season in his 500th career game. Nicholas Robertson also scored for the Maple Leafs, and John Tavares added two assists. Joseph Woll made 23 saves as Toronto won for the second time in three games against the Red Wings, with one meeting left this season.

McLellan, the former San Jose, Edmonton and Los Angeles head coach, was hired on Thursday to replace Derek Lalonde.

Lucas Raymond and Simon Edvinsson scored for Detroit, which has lost four straight games. Cam Talbot and Alex Lyon had a combined 18 saves.

Maple Leafs star forward Auston Matthews missed his third consecutive game due to an upper-body injury.

Kampf gave Toronto the lead at 2:29 of the opening period. Following a Red Wings turnover, Steven Lorentz passed the puck from behind Detroit's net to Kampf, who beat Talbot on the glove side.

Toronto extended its lead at 8:16 of the period. Talbot stopped a shot by Marner, but the rebound deflected to John Tavares. He made a between-the-legs pass back to Marner, who converted the second time around. Philippe Myers added the second assist.

Raymond received a double minor penalty for slashing late in the period. That led to Marner's second goal with 31.8 seconds left in the first. He one-timed a pass from William Nylander. Tavares picked up another assist.

Marner completed the hat trick with 3:37 remaining in the second period. He redirected Oliver Ekman-Larsson's shot from the point past Talbot.

Robertson's goal came with 1.2 seconds remaining in the period. Max Domi and Bobby McMann picked up the assists.

Raymond scored at 8:17 of the third and Edvinsson followed suit at 12:08.

--Field Level Media

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