*Photo from the Citrus County Chronicle*
Day two in Sweden was another thriller. Tyler Bertuzzi had a goal and an assist, John Tavares scored the winning goal, and the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Detroit Red Wings with a 3-2 victory on Friday in Stockholm.
The Maple Leafs opened up their two games in Sweden with 3 unanswered goals in the 3rd period to take down the Red Wings, who end their Sweden trip with two losses. Tavares and William Nylander each had a goal and two assists, with Nylander extending his point streak to 16 games.
Nylander, who lives in Sweden, said that "I think this was really special and a lot of fun for sure and then obviously the win we were able to pull off after we had a slow two periods. The streak for me is what it is. I'm just focusing on working hard and if there is a point that happens, it happens. But the most important thing is that we get the win."
After a scoreless first period, Daniel Sprong found the back of the net for the Red Wings. He made it 1-0 with his 5th goal of the season, coming in the second period. At the 14:44 mark of the second, Sweden native Lucas Raymond scored for the Red Wings, making it 2-0 on his 7th goal of the season, assisted by Ben Chiarot and Alex DeBrincat.
Bertuzzi started the scoring 3:50 into the 3rd period, cutting the deficit to 2-1 with assists from Nylander and Tavares. On the power play at the 13:03 mark of the period, Nylander tied the game for the Maple Leafs on his 11th goal of the season. Tavares then scored at the 14:27 mark to put Toronto ahead for good.
Tavares said of his goal "That was great work along the boards in behind the net there by Bertuzzi just being strong and winning a battle and obviously having the awareness once he came up with the puck seeing me on the backside. I had the easy part just putting it in."
Starting for the Maple Leafs was Ilya Samsonov, who picked up a win to increase his record to 4-1-2 through 9 starts. Samsonov stopped 27 of the 29 shots the Red Wings tested him with, which was good for a .931 save percentage.
Getting the start for the Red Wings was Alex Lyon, making his Red Wings and season debut in his first action since game 2 of the first round of the playoffs in April. Lyon got the overtime loss after making 26 saves on 29 shots for a .897 save percentage.
Lyon said of his first game action that "It was a learning experience after not playing for so long. I just tried to be patient with it, try to feel it out as I go, but obviously not good enough for the win tonight and that's disappointing, but it is what it is and I've got to find a way at the end there to make the extra save. Those tiny margins are what the NHL comes down to."
The Maple Leafs wrap up their trip to Sweden when they play the Minnesota Wild on Sunday, with Joseph Woll projected to start. The Red Wings don't play again until a matchup against the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday, with Ville Husso the projected starter.
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