TORONTO _ Gustav Nyquist closed one period with a goal and opened the next with another to turn an ugly game interesting.
The Detroit Red Wings ran up quite a deficit Tuesday at Air Canada Centre only to edge within a goal with 19 minutes still to play in regulation against the Toronto Maple Leafs. They pushed hard for more, but ended up losing, 3-2.
Petr Mrazek didn't get much help from teammates as the Leafs scored three times on 22 shots through two periods. The Wings outshot the Leafs, 11-5, in the third period.
Nyquist scored with 38.7 seconds in the second period, set up by Henrik Zetterberg on what was his 11th point the last seven games. Zetterberg earned his 12th in the opening minute of the third period, when he had a hand in Nyquist's second goal. Mike Green passed the puck across the slot to Nyquist for the primary assist.
Luke Glendening had a good chance denied but Frederik Andersen after getting into the paint as the period crossed the midpoint. Zetterberg drove to the net for another shot with about 5 minutes to play as the Wings pressed hard for an equalizer.
Their finish came as they sought to overcome a stinker of a start.
A former teammate stuck a dagger in the Wings 1:07 into the game, when Alexey Marchenko swiped in Tyler Bozak's rebound. The Wings challenged goalie interference, but lost because it was Justin Abdelkader who pushed James van Riemsdyk into Mrazek.
Van Riemsdyk made the Wings hurt some more on their first power play, when he scored into an open net by being in position by the right post.
Shortly after Niklas Kronwall had warmed the penalty box, Green had to take a seat for a slashing penalty. The Wings were able to kill that penalty, but they did little else, and were outshot, 9-3, after 11 minutes.
It took until the last 5 minutes of the period before the Wings generated just some decent offensive zone time. A power play saw Nyquist chip away at the puck from the left post, and Dylan Larkin and Tomas Tatar also forced saves from Andersen.
A power play early in the second period saw Abdelkader hit a post, and that was the best chance the Wings had before it to 3-0 when Nazem Kadri sent a shot into the far corner from the top of the right circle, at 5:49, after Wings skaters failed to clear the puck. Nick Jensen went for interference on Andersen at 9:55, putting the Wings on a third penalty kill.
Zetterberg hit a post as the Wings continued to be stymied from getting a shot on net in the second period. It took until 3:47 to go in the period before Tatar directed a shot Andersen easily turned away. It took until the last minute of the second period for the Wings to get on the scoreboard, with Nyquist taking Zetterberg's pass and sending a backhand in off a post.
