Maple Leafs at Red Wings preview
Keefe seeks third straight win as Toronto coach; Detroit goes for first victory in seven games
by Dave Hogg / NHL.com Independent Correspondent
MAPLE LEAFS (11-10-4) at RED WINGS (7-16-3)
7 p.m. ET; FS-D, SNE, SNO, SN1, NHL.TV
The Game
Sheldon Keefe will try to become the first Toronto Maple Leafs coach to win his first three games since 1998 when they play the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on Wednesday.
Pat Quinn won his first three games as coach of the Maple Leafs in 1998-99, which none of the next five Toronto coaches matched.
Toronto has won Keefe's first two games after going 0-5-1 in their previous six games prior to Keefe replacing Mike Babcock as coach on Nov. 20.
Jonathan Bernier is expected to start for the Red Wings, who are winless in six games (0-4-2) and have won three of their past 13 games (3-8-2).
Players to watch
Maple Leafs defenseman Tyson Barrie has five points (two goals, three assists) in a four-game point streak.
Red Wings forward Robby Fabbri, who is playing on the top line with forward Anthony Mantha out with a lower-body injury, has eight points (three goals, five assists) in nine games with Detroit.
They said it
"We've only played two games since the (coaching) change, and I don't think you can completely install a new system in two games. It's going to take a little longer, but we've already added some good things and we're always talking about what we can do better. I know [Keefe] has a long list of ideas." -- Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly
"He's a shooter comparable to Anthony (Mantha), so hopefully he can fill a similar role on our power play. That's not to say we expect him to do everything Anthony has done, but we think that's the best spot to give him a chance to succeed." -- Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill on rookie Filip Zadina replacing injured Anthony Mantha
Maple Leafs projected lineup
Andreas Johnsson -- Auston Matthews -- William Nylander
Ilya Mikheyev -- John Tavares -- Zach Hyman
Nic Petan -- Jason Spezza -- Kasperi Kapanen
Pierre Engvall -- Frederik Gauthier -- Nicholas Shore
Morgan Rielly -- Cody Ceci
Jake Muzzin -- Justin Holl
Travis Dermott -- Tyson Barrie
Frederik Andersen
Kasimir Kaskisuo
Scratched: Martin Marincin, Dmytro Timashov
Injured: Mitchell Marner (ankle), Trevor Moore (shoulder)
Suspended: Alexander Kerfoot
Red Wings projected lineup
Tyler Bertuzzi -- Dylan Larkin -- Robby Fabbri
Filip Zadina -- Valtteri Filppula -- Andreas Athanasiou
Brendan Perlini -- Frans Nielsen -- Taro Hirose
Darren Helm -- Luke Glendening -- Adam Erne
Patrik Nemeth -- Filip Hronek
Madison Bowey -- Jonathan Ericsson
Dylan McIlrath -- Dennis Cholowski
Jonathan Bernier
Jimmy Howard
Scratched: Justin Abdelkader, Alex Biega
Injured: Danny DeKeyser (lower body), Trevor Daley (lower body), Mike Green (upper body), Anthony Mantha (lower body)
Status report
Petan will replace Kerfoot on Toronto's third line. … Green participated in an optional skate Wednesday but won't play.
Stat pack
Tavares has 32 points (nine goals, 23 assists) in 23 games against Detroit. … The Red Wings are 19-8-2 with one tie at home on Thanksgiving Eve since they began regularly scheduling such games in 1980.