TORONTO – Johan Franzen scored twice and Henrik Zetterberg had four assists to lead the Detroit Red Wings to a 4-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday night.
Gustav Nyquist and Justin Abdelkader also scored and Jimmy Howard stopped 23 shots for Detroit.
After scoring his first two goals of the season, Franzen left the game late in the second period with a lower-body injury and did not return.
Nyquist's fourth goal in four games made it 3-0 with 1:44 to go in the second period.
Mike Santorelli scored for Toronto, ending Howard's shutout bid in the opening minute of the third period. James Reimer finished with 31 saves for the Maple Leafs.
Toronto visits Detroit on Saturday night for the completion of the home-and-home series.
Though the pace was quick from the start, neither team had a shot on net for the first five-plus minutes. The Red Wings also came up empty on an early power play.
Detroit got on the board with their third shot exactly midway through the first period. Roman Polak gave the puck away to Zetterberg behind the net and he made a slick cross-crease pass to Franzen for his first of the season.
The Red Wings made it 2-0 at 5:42 of the second thanks in part to a badly-timed change by Morgan Rielly that left defensive partner Jake Gardiner exposed. Zetterberg skated by Gardiner in front of the net and waited out Reimer until the goalie went down and he found Franzen for his second of the night.
A few minutes later, the Leafs lost Brandon Kozun to a scary left leg injury. Checked by Kyle Quincey, Kozun's left leg hit awkwardly against the end boards, and he spent several minutes down on the ice before leaving with some help.
The Red Wings padded their lead on another heads-up play by Zetterberg late in the second. Zetterberg beat Polak to the puck after Jakub Kindl flipped it in and fed it to a streaking Nyquist, who shot it under Reimer's left pad.
Santorelli got the Maple Leafs on the scoreboard 21 seconds into the third period. After taking a pass from Leo Komarov, Santorelli scored his first goal with the Leafs on a back-hander short side.
Abdelkader capped the scoring with his second goal of the second at the 5:51 mark.
Frustrations piled up for the Leafs, including captain Dion Phaneuf, who tried more than once to fight but never got the chance. He took a roughing penalty in the third, minutes before a fan tossed his jersey over the glass and onto the ice.
NOTES: This was the first of eight Friday night games for the Leafs this season and first of three at home. In the past nine seasons, dating to the 2004-05 lockout, Toronto hosted a total of three Friday night games. ... Several new Canadian citizens were sworn in at a ceremony at center ice earlier in the day, and they helped anthem singer Doug Tranquada sing "O Canada."
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