Red Wings 3, Maple Leafs 2: Gustav Nyquist scored a pair of goals and host Detroit held on to beat its Original Six rival.

Daniel Alfredsson added an insurance tally with 2:33 to play as the Red Wings won for the third time in eight games (3-4-1) and avenged a loss to Toronto in the Winter Classic on New Year's Day. Jimmy Howard turned aside 31 shots and saw an apparent tying goal midway through the third negated when it was ruled that Maple Leafs forward Nazem Kadri used a distinct kicking motion to put the puck in the net.

Defenseman Jake Gardiner and James van Riemsdyk scored for the Maple Leafs, who lost for the third time in four games and closed out a 2-3-0 road trip. James Reimer made 28 saves in defeat.

Nyquist scored on a breakaway at 12:50 of the opening period after Reimer denied his initial shot but knocked the put into his own net with his stick. Nyquist used his speed again to double the advantage with a wrist shot from the right faceoff dot at 2:06 of the third.

Toronto cut the deficit in half just over six minutes later when Gardiner collected a rebound off the end boards and tucked a forehand around Howard. Alfredsson restored the two-goal advantage late in the third, allowing Detroit to withstand van Riemsdyk's tally with 1:13 to play.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Nyquist scored his 13th and 14th goals in the last 20 games to take over the team lead with 19. ... Red Wings D Jonathan Ericsson suffered an upper-body injury in the second period and did not return. ... With Red Wings F Justin Abdelkader suffering a lower-body injury in Sunday's loss to Chicago, Detroit called up F Landon Ferraro to make his NHL debut. Ferraro's father, Ray, played his final game at Joe Louis Arena.