Bunting hat trick helps Maple Leafs rally past Red Wings

Michael Bunting scored a hat trick, and the Toronto Maple Leafs rallied with five straight goals to defeat the Detroit Red Wings 7-4 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Saturday.

"We knew if we could get the first goal of the third period, we'd have a good chance to win the game," Bunting said. "We were getting chances, and fortunately they started going in in the third period."
Toronto trailed 4-2 after two periods, but Bunting scored twice to tie it 4-4 and Rasmus Sandin scored his first goal of the season to put the Maple Leafs ahead 5-4 with 2:51 remaining.
"We got the puck down low and John [Tavares] made a terrific (cross-ice) pass," said Sandin, who played his 34th game. "I've had a couple similar situations this year and missed them, so I'm very happy this one went in."

Mitchell Marner scored into an empty net to make it 6-4 at 18:46, and Tavares scored an empty-net goal at 19:49 for the 7-4 final.
"That wasn't a good game for us, but it was a good win for us," Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said. "We thought we could score a couple goals in the third period and get back into the game, but we had to stop the bleeding defensively."
The Red Wings have allowed an NHL-high 63 third-period goals this season.
Toronto (27-10-3) won its third straight and is 5-0-0 against Detroit since the start of the 2019-20 season. Petr Mrazek made 31 saves against his former team; he played for the Red Wings from 2012-18.
"I just had to stay positive after the first two periods," Mrazek said. "I needed to keep making saves."
Dylan Larkin had two goals and an assist, and Vladislav Namestnikov had a goal and an assist for Detroit (19-20-6), which played its third game in four days, including a 3-2 shootout win at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday. Alex Nedeljkovic made 30 saves.
"They had a heck of a third period and we didn't," said Larkin, the Red Wings captain. "We sat back and let them have their way with us. We have to be able to win games when it is 4-2 in the third period."

Larkin gave Detroit a 1-0 lead at 1:15 of the first period on a drive to the net.
Toronto tied it 1-1 at 16:28 when Morgan Rielly's pass went in off Pierre Engvall's leg.
Namestnikov put the Red Wings ahead 2-1 at 1:16 of the second period, and Tyler Bertuzzi extended the lead to 3-1 at 2:11 with a high wrist shot from the right face-off circle.
"The way we started the second period was ugly," Keefe said.
Bunting deflected Justin Holl's shot past Nedeljkovic to cut it to 3-2 at 11:07. Larkin made it 4-2 with a one-timer on the power play at 15:54.
Bunting pulled the Maple Leafs within 4-3 at 9:28 of the third period when he batted the puck at the edge of the goal crease, then completed the hat trick by tying it at 11:58.
"They had all the momentum in the third period, and we didn't do enough to make them defend," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "They are one of the best [offensive]-zone teams in the league and we are one of the worst [defensive]-zone teams, and that's exactly how it played out.
"We don't want to be a team that plays close with good teams. We want to beat good teams."

It was Bunting's second NHL hat trick; his first was April 5, 2021, for the Arizona Coyotes against the Los Angeles Kings, his only other multigoal game.
"He was engaged and competing all night and he got rewarded for it," Keefe said. "He's a great competitor and he found ways to put the puck into the net."
NOTES: Blashill coached his 500th NHL game. He is 191-241-68 in seven seasons with the Red Wings. Blashill became the fifth coach to coach 500 games for Detroit, joining Jack Adams (964), Sid Abel (811), Mike Babcock (786) and Scotty Bowman (701). … Marner extended his goal streak to five games. … Tavares has scored 40 points (12 goals, 28 assists) in 27 games against Detroit.