After a dreadful start to the season, things have started to turn around for the Maple Leafs. They've been playing much better hockey the past two weeks – buoyed in large part by Gustavsson taking over the No. 1 goaltending job – and have moved out of the NHL basement by winning two in a row and earning points in seven straight games (3-0-4).
Wayne Primeau, Jeff Finger, John Mitchell and Alexei Ponikarovsky also scored for Toronto.
Daniel Cleary scored for the Red Wings.
Toronto took a 2-0 lead in the first period. Primeau scored his first with the Maple Leafs at 10:34, when he came in off the wing and beat Chris Osgood to the blocker side.
Kessel extended the lead at 19:34 with a tap-in goal. Jason Blake's shot had rolled past Osgood when Kessel tipped the puck into an empty net.
Finger made it 3-0 at 5:21 of the second period after jumping into the rush and taking a nice pass from Lee Stempniak. It was a big goal for the defenseman, who has been a healthy scratch eight times this season.
Gustavsson was sharp once again, coming across his crease early in the third period to deny Henrik Zetterberg.
Cleary ended up breaking his shutout bid shortly after when he sneaked in behind the Leafs defense and scoring at 5:59.
The hopes for a comeback didn't last long. Detroit was quickly penalized for too many men on the ice and Mitchell tipped home a Kessel shot on the power play, giving him goals on consecutive nights.
Ponikarovsky then scored to make it 5-1. It was the second time this season Osgood has allowed five goals.
However, that's only one issue hurting the Wings. They lost three key forwards to free agency in the summer and continue to get hit with injuries – Jason Williams left Saturday's game with an injury to his right leg, joining Johan Franzen and Valtteri Filppula.
Notes
Seventeen members of the Hockey Hall of Fame were honored before the game — Steve Yzerman, who received the loudest ovation, is one of five men being inducted on Monday night. … Fans sang former Leafs goalie Johnny Bower "Happy Birthday" during the second period. He turns 84 on Sunday.