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TSN Toronto Maple Leafs Reporter

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Unlike the wild finish to their Centennial Classic matchup on Jan. 1, the Toronto Maple Leafs were in full control against the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday. Toronto jumped out to an early lead they never relinquished, crushing Detroit 4-0. The Maple Leafs have picked up at least a point in 11 consecutive road games now (9-0-2), a franchise record, and posted their second straight 4-0 win.


Takeaways

Freddie on fire: The last time a Maple Leafs goalie posted back-to-back shutouts, it was Ben Scrivens in Feb. 2013. For the first time in his career, Frederik Andersen stopped all 22 shots he faced from Detroit to match that feat (he turned aside 26 shots in Monday’s 4-0 win over the Calgary Flames). But beyond just locking down the crease (which he did with veritable ease), he also used his underrated puck-handling skills to notch his first point of the season. In the third period, Andersen sent the puck off the boards to Nikita Soshnikov, who barrelled through the neutral zone and sent a blast from above the circle past Petr Mrazek. It was Soshnikov’s first goal since Nov. 5, ending a 33-game goalless drought. The last Maple Leafs goalie to get an assist in a shutout was Jonathan Bernier on Dec. 23, 2014.

Moves like Matthews: After going three games without registering a point, his longest pointless stretch since Nov. 11-15, Auston Matthews took little time getting his groove back against the Red Wings. His line had a long, successful shift in the offensive zone near the start of the first period, fuelled by Connor Brown and Zach Hyman down low. Matthews finished things off with his own individual talents, corralling the puck from between a defender’s skates and roofing it from his backhand over Mrazek. Matthews' fifth game-winning goal is the most by a Maple Leafs rookie in a season since Steve Thomas in 1985-86. It was the 18th time this season that he has opened the scoring for Toronto.

Historically good starters: Earning his 39th point of the season one game after Mitch Marner took over the rookie scoring lead with that same total, Matthews joined him at the top with his first period strike. Only nine other players since 2000 have scored 39 points in their first 46 games, including Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Anze Kopitar and Jonathan Toews. Marner and Matthews now share the Leafs team lead in points with James van Riemsdyk, who showed off his incredible hands down low with a bank shot off Mrazek for his 17th goal of the season.

Drawing it up: Wednesday was one of the most complete games Toronto has played this season - every player finished as a plus for the Maple Leafs. They also got the better of the Red Wings in the faceoff circle, winning 56 per cent of the draws. Detroit is the fourth-best faceoff team in the league (52.3 per cent) while Toronto sits at 20th (48.9). Their success in the dot allowed them to keep pressure on the lagging Red Wings (who played in Boston on Tuesday). Matthews led the way in that category, with a victory in 71 per cent of his draws. All the Maple Leafs’ faceoff takers were at 40 per cent or more.

Next game: The Maple Leafs are in familiar territory facing another back-to-back - they play the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night.