There wasn’t much to like about the first period beyond the first two shifts by Nazem Kadri’s line – Kadri seemed like he was going to have himself a big game as he buzzed in the offensive zone, threw a couple of good hits, and looked engaged and pumped up.
The Leafs defense was pretty aggressive in their pinching early on, which is fine except they weren’t smart about it. Jake Gardiner got caught leading to a 2 on 1 and a penalty (which the Wings scored on, assist to Lupul’s dumb penalty). The Leafs gave up a goal on that powerplay that was far too easy.