DETROIT -- As they arrived in Detroit, the game plan for the Toronto Maple Leafs was to wear on the Red Wings and eventually wear them out, and it worked to perfection.

Fredrik Andersen made 22 saves for his third shutout of the season and second in as many games, and also picked up an assist on a goal by Nikita Soshnikov as the Leafs dropped the Wings 4-0 Wednesday.

Detroit returned to town in the wee hours Wednesday morning following a 4-3 overtime loss at Boston and the Leaf figured the Wings would be ripe for the picking.

"They came in late last night from their game and we took advantage of that," Andersen said. "We worked hard and I think it's tough for them to get a lot when we work hard and we're fresh."

His best save was a third-period right pad stop when Detroit forward Darren Helm got loose on a breakaway. Andersen, who shut out the Calgary Flames 4-0 Monday, is the first Leafs netminder to post shutouts in consecutive games since Ben Scrivens blanked the Ottawa Senators and Florida Panthers by identical 3-0 scores on Feb. 16-18, 2013.

"He's very steady," Leafs defenseman Roman Polak said. "He's been always good for us, all season."

Just 5:30 into the opening period, Toronto's Auston Matthews picked up a loose puck in the Detroit slot area and calmly lifted a high backhand shot over the glove of Wings goalie Petr Mrazek. It was his 23rd goal of the season, which leads all NHL rookies.

"I was able to chip it by him and catch the goalie off guard," Matthews said.

Polak increased the advantage to 2-0 late in the second period when his point shot banked off the right shin of Detroit defenseman Jonathan Ericsson and into the net.

Mrazek glared at Ericsson following the goal and seemed to take issue with his teammate after the game.

"I think the momentum (swing) was the second goal they scored of Big E's leg," Mrazek said. "It's unbelievable when you're down 1-0 with two minutes left in the second period, you get some scoring chances and then you know they miss the net wide and hits Big E and goes in.

"That's frustrating for sure but that's hockey. That's how it is sometimes."

Less than five minutes into the third period, Toronto's James Van Riemsdyk upped the Leafs' edge to 3-0 when his sharp angle backhander banked off Mrazek and into the net. Van Riemsdyk has 15 points (4-11-15) in his last 15 games.

It was 4-0 five minutes later when Soshnikov's seemingly harmless wrist shot skimmed between Mrazek's blocker and his body.

"I didn't like the fourth goal," Mrazek said.

Mrazek is 0-6-2 in his last eight starts but did get a win in relief of Jared Coreau Jan. 18 against Boston.

The Leafs sit third in the Atlantic Division at 23-14-9.

"I'm happy with where we are," Andersen said. "We're working towards our goal."

Toronto ended Detroit's three-game home-ice point streak (2-0-1) and the Leafs ran their road point streak to 11 games (9-0-2).

"It's what we do," Polak said. "We're skating a lot and it just wears out the other team. That's what we did to Detroit."

The Wings, 20-20-9, are 0-1-3 in their last four games. With back-to-back games against the Bruins and Leafs prior to the All-Star break, two of the teams Detroit is chasing to get back in the Eastern Conference race, the Wings hoped to make up some ground. Instead, they fell further behind both teams and they sit last overall in the conference, five points out of a playoff position.

"Let's be honest, I think we're all watching the standings, there's no doubt about that," Detroit defenseman Niklas Kronwall said. "But again, we got to stay positive and keep grinding away.

"There's no way out of this, it's going to be the guys in here who's going to do it together. Basically, everything's going to come down to that."

NOTES: Detroit F Thomas Vanek, who shares the team lead with 12 goals, returned to action after missing one game with a lower body injury. F Dylan Larkin (upper body injury), who also has 12 goals, missed his second straight game. ... G Jimmy Howard (knee), D Brendan Smith (knee) and F Steve Ott (shoulder) are on IRL. Ott hasn't played since being injured in a fight with Toronto's Matt Martin in the Jan. 1 Centennial Classic against the Leafs. ... Detroit scratches were Ds Alexey Marchenko and Ryan Sproul and F Drew Miller. ... Leafs scratches were D Morgan Rielly (lower body injury), D Frankie Corrado and F Josh Leivo. ... Rielly has missed the last four games. ... Leafs F Ben Smith (upper body injury) is on IRL. ... Polak played his 600th NHL game. ... The Leafs are 11-4-2 against Atlantic Division opposition.