Red Wings top Maple Leafs in OT, get 7th win in 8 games

TORONTO -- Dylan Larkin scored at 3:08 of overtime, and the Detroit Red Wings defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1 at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday.

After Moritz Seider stole the puck from a retreating Easton Cowan in the neutral zone, the Red Wings defenseman fed Larkin in the slot, where he shot past Joseph Woll’s blocker.

“That’s diesel right there,” Larkin said of Seider. “He has a diesel engine. He chases us like that in practice all the time and I knew when he started chasing Cowan that he was going to get the puck because he does it. He plays like that starting in training camp every day really. Strong stick, strong skater. He almost put it in the corner, but I caught up to it and was able to finish it off. I would have liked to go back to him to reward him for all the hard work but I ran out of real estate.”

Simon Edvinsson scored, and Larkin added an assist for the Red Wings (31-16-4), who are 7-1-0 in their past eight games. John Gibson made 30 saves for his seventh straight win and is 16-2-0 in his past 18 starts.

“I don’t want to hype him up too much but I think he’s a Vezina (Trophy candidate),” Edvinsson said of Gibson. “He’s been unreal. Look at the stats, look at the saves he made today. What a goalie he is. I have all the confidence in him that he’s going to perform when we need him the most and he’s been doing that. Hopefully he doesn’t read this, I don’t want him to hold this against me, but wow, what a goalie.”

Scott Laughton scored for the Maple Leafs (24-17-9), who are 1-2-2 in their past five games. Woll made 39 saves after being pulled in his previous start Monday, when he allowed five goals on 29 shots in a 6-3 loss to the Minnesota Wild.

“It was a good match,” Woll said. “Both teams played really well. It was a tight game. Almost playoff-type feel, I thought. It comes down to a goal in OT. I thought we played a real good game, really strong defensively.

“Just got back to my process, got back in and did my best to stay in the moment and take it a save at a time. I thought our guys especially did a really good job to make things predictable.”

Detroit forward Patrick Kane did not have a point and remains two from tying Mike Modano (1,374) for the most points by a United States-born player in NHL history.

The Maple Leafs went up 1-0 at 4:46 of the first period. Calle Jarnkrok fanned on a one-timer at the right face-off dot off a pass from Steven Lorentz but inadvertently directed the puck to Laughton, who shot past Gibson’s blocker from the low slot.

“You want to get the extra point especially within the division, but we didn’t and we keep moving forward,” Laughton said. “I thought we played a better game than Minnesota, we were tighter. … We just have to find a way to get that extra goal, a greasy one at some point in the game.”

Edvinsson tied it 1-1 on the rush at 19:42. He scored past Woll’s blocker with a one-timer in the slot off a pass from Lucas Raymond, who was at the bottom of the right circle.

“We caught them holding at the line, pinching if you will, and were able to take the rush and get it,” Detroit coach Todd McLellan said. “So now you come in after the first (period) on the road, you’re tied up and there’s a little more positivity going through the room versus being down by one, and then from there on it was pretty even.”

The Maple Leafs outshot the Red Wings 14-7 in the second period before Detroit outshot Toronto 13-5 in the third and 6-0 in overtime.

“We’re fine no matter which (type of) game we play,” Gibson said. “We know it’s going to be tighter as it keeps going, so we have to be more comfortable in those games and I thought we did a great job tonight.”

Laughton had a chance to give the Maple Leafs the lead at 16:41 of the second on a penalty shot, but he lost control of the puck and did not get off a strong attempt.

“I was too tired,” Laughton said. “I should have faked a broken stick and let (Auston) Matthews go or something. I’ve done that move before and just lost the puck, that’s pretty much it.”

NOTES: Maple Leafs defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson left the game at 8:57 of the first period with a lower-body injury after his right leg appeared to get twisted when he got tangled up with Raymond. Toronto coach Craig Berube did not have an update after the game. … Larkin scored his 12th overtime goal, tying Sergei Fedorov for the most in Red Wings history. “I think it is an asterisk because if he had 3-on-3 overtime (when he played), nobody would be catching that (record),” said Larkin, the Detroit captain. “It’s cool to be a part of history and it’s nice to win, so they’re big goals, important points and a lot of times I’m getting a nice pass or a nice play like Seider did tonight, so it’s nice to cap it off there.” … Detroit swept a season series against Toronto for the second time in the 99-season history of the rivalry (minimum four games played). The only other instance was in 1995-96 (5-0-0).