For the latest Leafs updates or Follow @mikeinbuffalo on Twitter The Toronto Maple Leafs continued their winning ways under Sheldon Keefe, scoring three times in the first 10 minutes in a 6-0 thrashing of the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesar’s Arena on Wednesday. Andreas Johnsson tallied twice, Travis Dermott, Tyson Barrie, John Tavares, and William Nylander scored, Frederik Andersen stopped all 25 Detroit shots for his first shutout of the season, and the Leafs moved into third place in the Atlantic Division with their third straight win under their new head coach. “I really liked how we started in the game. We won the faceoff, went down the ice and spent time down there right from the get-go, which was something we obviously wanted to do.… Keefe said after the game. “With that process, we got the puck to bounce our way a little bit early in the game and we got a hold of it.… Toronto was very fortunate as goals from Dermott and Barrie came in the opening 2:24 of the game and were as a result of long shots deflecting off sticks and skates before getting by Wings goalie Jimmy Howard. Howard was injured later in the first and left the game after Tavares scored to make it 3-0. Jonathan Bernier was supposed to be the starter but fell ill before the game and was not on the bench when Howard left the game. After a long delay, the former Leaf was pressed into service and although he allowed goals to Nylander and Johnsson in the second period to make the game 6-0, Bernier battled through and made 37 saves. “The referees were great and talking to us. We had a bit of an indication prior to the game as well that there were some issues there with Bernier.… Keefe said. “We had a sense of what was going on. Obviously, we had to be patient with it.… The club travelled to Buffalo after the game and spent U.S. Thanksgiving afternoon practicing at Key Bank Center in preparation for a home-and-home back-to-back matchup with the division rival Sabres. In another departure from the methodology of Mike Babcock, Keefe indicated that backup Michael Hutchinson will get the start on Friday afternoon and that Andersen will be in goal for the rematch in Toronto on Saturday. *******
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— The Leafs Convo (@TheLeafsConvo) November 25, 2019