Leafs finally get a win from their backup goalie in victory over Red Wings
Michael Hutchinson becomes first backup to win a game for the Leafs this season
The Toronto Maple Leafs finally earned a victory without the services of Frederik Andersen.
The crowd at Scotiabank Arena gave the 29-year-old Hutchinson a standing ovation as the final seconds ticked down on his first NHL win since Jan. 10 of last season.
"That was a special moment. Obviously I haven't been getting the results this year so it was nice to put a win in the column and hear the fans support you," said Hutchinson, who entered Saturday 0-5-1 with a 4.55 goals-against average and .876 save percentage in six starts.
WATCH | Leafs get strong performance from backup Hutchinson:
Andersen, who has been a work horse for Toronto (19-14-4) and leads the NHL in victories, is 18-8-3 with a 2.52 GAA and .919 save percentage in 29 games.
"I've been on the bench watching Freddy make big saves, I tried not to over think things," said Hutchinson. "I feel like I'm in a good head space right now, feeling relaxed."
Jonathan Bernier started in net for Detroit (9-25-3) — stopping the only three shots he faced. Bernier lasted less than seven minutes before leaving with a lower-body injury that Wings coach Jeff Blashill referred to as a "sore groin" that was bothering the netminder in warmup.
Calvin Pickard came on in relief and made 16 saves for the loss.
Toronto, which was playing the second game of a back-to-back after a 6-3 win Friday against the Rangers on the road, started slow and were sloppy through the opening 10 minutes before settling down.
If it wasn't for Hutchinson, who stopped two Dylan Larkin breakaway chances early on, the Leafs easily could have been trailing instead of going into the first intermission scoreless.
Hutchinson was there again when needed early in the second.
First he stopped Andreas Athanasiou on another breakaway chance as his teammates appeared to be a tired group for much of the first 40 minutes, and followed that up with a blocker save on Larkin, who was streaking down the wing.
"You get the chances but if one of those go in it's a different game tonight, that's the frustrating part for myself," said Larkin, whose club has dropped 15 of their last 17 games.
Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe added: "We got the saves early, clearly we needed that."