Marner scores natural hat trick, Maple Leafs cruise past Red Wings

DETROIT – Mitch Marner scored his third NHL hat trick for the Toronto Maple Leafs, who spoiled Todd McLellan's debut as Detroit Red Wings coach in a 5-2 win at Little Caesars Arena on Friday.

“We knew it wasn’t going to be an easy game coming in here – they pressed really hard early,” Marner said. “Everything we did was just a little crisper tonight than it was before the break.”

David Kampf and Nicholas Robertson also scored for Toronto (22-12-2), which had lost two in a row after winning five of six. John Tavares had two assists. Joseph Woll made 23 saves.

“We spent a lot of time in our own end tonight, but I thought we did a good job protecting the slot and blocking shots,” Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube said. “That was the difference in the game.”

Detroit (13-18-4) has lost four straight. Cam Talbot made 16 saves on 21 shots before being replaced by Alex Lyon for the third period. Lyon stopped the two shots he faced.

“From a coaching perspective, it was exciting to be back there, but we’ve got work to do – that’s fairly evident,” said McLellan, who replaced Derek Lalonde on Thursday. “This game allows us a road map – we know where we will begin in practice tomorrow.

“You don’t have to be a hockey expert to see some of our entry coverages and D-zone parts of the play need to be fixed.”

Toronto took a 1-0 lead at 2:29 when Kampf scored his first goal of the season and 44th of his career in his 500th NHL game.

Marner made it 2-0 at 8:16, one-timing Tavares’ blind between the legs pass for his 11th goal of the season.

“The way the play developed, I was pretty sure he was going to be there,” Tavares said. “I just wanted to make a quick play before they could reset the defense.”

Marner put Toronto ahead 3-0 at 19:28, scoring off a William Nylander cross-ice pass with Lucas Raymond in the penalty box.

“It is great to get a hat trick, but the first two goals only came because of great passes from my teammates,” Marner said. “I’m just trying to find some quiet ice and take advantage of the chances they are providing."

Marner finished off his natural hat trick at 16:23 of the second period, tipping Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s shot past Talbot.

Robertson made it 5-0 at 19:58 of the period, hitting Talbot’s water bottle just before the red light came on.

“All of us have to perform better and maybe get out of our comfort zone a little bit,” Red Wings defenseman Ben Chiarot said. “You can have the greatest coach of all time back there, but if the guys aren’t willing to buy in and do the work, it doesn’t matter.”

Raymond scored a power-play goal at 8:17 of the third period, bringing Detroit within 5-1.

“I felt like we had a lot of chances throughout the game,” Raymond said. “We didn’t get rewarded until the third period, but they executed a little better than we did.

“Obviously, it’s never fun losing 5-2, but it was a different tonight that we can build off.”

Simon Edvinsson scored his fourth goal of the season at 12:08 for the 5-2 final.

NOTES: Lalonde finished with 201 points in 198 games, going 89-86-23 in two-plus seasons. … Edvinsson and Chiarot returned to the lineup after being sidelined before the holiday break with upper-body injuries. Edvinsson played 20:19 and Chiarot was on the ice for 19:57. … Tavares has 54 points (20 goals, 34 assists) in 39 career games against Detroit. … Auston Matthews missed his third straight game with an upper-body injury. Berube said at Friday’s morning skate that he does not expect Matthews to play on Saturday against the Washington Capitals.