The Minnesota Wild went to Toronto to face the Maple Leafs last night. The Toronto Maple Leafs squeaked by the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday needing a 2-goal comeback in the 3rd to force overtime and then won in a shootout but arguably the best goal-scorer in the game, Toronto Maple Leafs F Auston Matthews had a hat trick including two goals in the final 4-32 of regulation to tie the game.
Recap vs Florida
October 12th, 2023
Alright. Enough words. Let’s…
Drop the ClutterPuck!!!
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Here’s how the teams lined up:
Minnesota Wild
Wild projected lineup
Forwards
Kirill Kaprizov — Ryan Hartman — Mats Zuccarello
Marcus Johansson — Joel Eriksson — Matthew Boldy
Marcus Foligno — Marco Rossi — Frederick Gaudreau
Patrick Maroon — Connor Dewar — Brandon Duhaime
Defensemen
Jonas Brodin — Brock Faber
Jacob Middleton — Alex Goligoski
Jon Merrill — Calen Addison
Goalies
Filip Gustavsson
Marc-Andre Fleury
Scratched:
Dakota Mermis
Injured:
Mason Shaw (ACL), Jared Spurgeon (upper body)
Status Report
The Wild and Maple Leafs will each use the same lineups as they did in their season openers. … Johansson will play after leaving a 2-0 win against the Florida Panthers on Thursday with an upper-body injury.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Maple Leafs projected lineup
Scratched:
Simon Benoit
Injured:
Connor Timmins (lower body)
Status Report
The Wild and Maple Leafs will each use the same lineups as they did in their season openers.
Game Recap
1st Period
Minnesota Wild D Brock Faber pinched down the left side then turned towards the net around the bottom of the face-off circle and was allowed to get all the way to the net and almost had his 2nd goal in 2 games. Geez! It’s going to be fun to watch Faber develop throughout this season.
Toronto then took a tripping penalty in the offensive zone getting a stick in Wild D Brock Faber’s skates. The Wild had some good chances but didn’t score on the power play. Wild G Filip Gustavsson had to make a nice glove save on Toronto F Mitch Marner.
In a pre-game interview, former Wild F Ryan Reaves, who signed for 3 years/$4.05M ($1.35M AAV), on facing the Wild:
He didn’t take long to say hello to his “pretty good friends.” On his first shift, he hit Marco Rossi and then drilled Fréddy Gaudreau so it also didn’t take long for Wild F Marcus Foligno to drop the gloves with Reaves:
They both got 5 minutes for Fighting.
Both coaches were wondering about the call. Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe wondered why there wasn’t an Instigator call on Minnesota Wild F Marcus Foligno since he went to Reaves and immediately dropped the gloves & Wild coach Dean Evason wondered if the Reaves hit on Gaudreau was to the head. It was neither although the hit was borderline for being a blindside hit, something the league has tried to get out of the game for a while now.
With the Minnesota Wild on the power play from Brock Faber being tripped by Tyler Bertuzzi, Toronto Maple Leafs F Mitch Marner used his speed to get a mini-breakaway when he chipped it past Wild D Calen Addison and beat him to it but the Gus Bus, Minnesota Wild G Filip Gustavsson, made a nice glove save. Couldn’t find a video for it but it’s the first highlight in the Game Highlights at the bottom of the article.
9:32 – Goal – Minnesota – Ryan Hartman from Kirill Kaprizov & Jonas Brodin
Minnesota Wild F Ryan Hartman tipped a shot from the right point by Kirill Kaprizov. He tipped it with his stick but it ended up going off the inside of his left skate and into the net.
Minnesota Wild 1 | 0 Toronto Maple Leafs
Just 81 seconds later, Toronto won a faceoff in the neutral zone just outside the left of the Minnesota Wild’s defensive zone. Tyler Bertuzzi kicked it back to D Morgan Reilly and he wrapped the puck around the boards from the left side. Minnesota Wild D Jake Middleton, at the right half-wall, tried to send the puck up the right boards but the puck was bouncing &/or it hit Toronto D T.J. Brodie. That allowed Toronto F Mitch Marner to catch the puck & drop it on the ice then pass to F Auston Matthews who had cut to the net and when he received the pass, it was off his stick & into the net a split second later to tie the game at 1-1.
10:53 – Goal – Toronto – Auston Matthews (1) from Mitch Marner (2)
Minnesota Wild 1 | 1 Toronto Maple Leafs
This goal happens because there are 4 Maple Leafs players on 3 Wild players so Ryan Hartman had to choose to either pressure the puck or stay with Auston Matthews. He chose the puck but he was aware of Matthews position so he was lunging and extending his stick to try to take away a passing lane where he thought Matthews was and he was wrong because Matthews moved into a better passing lane.
It’s a bad clearing attempt by Middleton too or at least it looks like it now. It’s difficult because the puck was bouncing so should he try to stop it and keep possession instead of a hope play to get the puck out of the zone? Hindsight says yes and if you go back to when the puck is coming around the right corner, it was 2-on-3 favoring the Wild so keep the puck. Middleton was also the only Wild player on that side of the ice since Kirill Kaprizov pressured the puck way over to where Reilly dumped the puck in. So Hartman should move to cover Marner and Zuccarello should cover Matthews while Kaprizov could cover Reilly at the right point but they have to talk that out and Zuccarello was just watching the play develop and Kirill tried to get all the way back to his original side. That’s sloppy and it doesn’t look like there was a lot of talking between the Wild players.
12:00 – Coincidental Minors – Toronto F Max Domi & Minnesota F Connor Dewar for Roughing
An after-the-whistle scrum in front of the Toronto net developed and Domi grabbed Dewar who was already tied up with another Toronto player and started pushing & shoving him so of course Dewar responded the same way. Whatever happened to the 3rd-man-in rule? That rule was only for fighting. Should that be enforced in all altercations?
12:23 – Penalty – Minnesota – Jon Merrill for Interference on William Nylander
Toronto F William Nylander was breaking the puck out of his defensive zone going up the right side. He tried to pass the puck to the middle but it was deflected by Minnesota F Marcus Johansson and then Minnesota D Jon Merrill kicked it back towards Nylander so Nylander chipped the puck past Merrill so he could skate to it and Merrill got in his way and also checked him into the boards and he received a 2-minute penalty for Interference for it. If Merrill just continues to skate and/or doesn’t check him, he might be fine.*
*Can the players &/or the coaches ask for an explanation during intermission or after the game so they know how they could’ve avoided being called for any infraction? Check the Game Notes section at the bottom of the article for more on this topic.
It took Toronto & Auston Matthews just 11 seconds to score on that power play.
12:34 – Goal (PPG) – Toronto – Auston Matthews (5) from William Nylander (2)
The Maple Leafs, now 4-on-3 due to the coincidental minor penalties went with 4 forwards on the ice to start the power play. The faceoff went back to Nylander at the middle of the blue line then waited for his teammates to set up with Auston Matthews on the right side below the faceoff dot. Nylander passed him the puck once then got it back and passed it to him again and Matthews just shot a low shot to the far side of the net or he was trying to get a tip from John Tavares in front of the net but the low shot beat the Gus Bus through the 5-hole and… just like that, it was…
Minnesota Wild 1 | 2 Toronto Maple Leafs
The Wild and F Joel Eriksson Ek just let them set up after winning the faceoff. That seems like a good time to be aggressive because they aren’t ready to make a play yet so Ek maybe could’ve forced Nylander to rush a pass and it may have caused an inaccurate pass or a loose puck which are 2 things you want when you’re killing a penalty.
Meanwhile, this wasn’t called a penalty:
Minnesota Wild rookie F Marco Rossi got a breakaway with 1:04 left in the 1st… Wild D Brock Faber fed him at the offensive blue line as Marco had a step on the Toronto defense and Marco was smart enough to know they were close to him so he got a shot off very quickly as he continued his quest for his 1st career goal in the NHL.
They show it here then you see Toronto Maple Leafs F William Nylander show why he should get absolutely PAID soon. He received a pass from John Tavares and both Wild defensemen stayed with Tavares which allowed Nylander all the time & space in the world and he took advantage of it.
19:38 – Goal – Toronto – William Nylander from John Tavares
When both defensemen stay to defend a player without the puck, that forces someone else, in this case, Wild F Joel Eriksson Ek, to go to Nylander but he was too far away to defend at that point. The Wild have to communicate better. Defense is supposed to be their strong suit.
Minnesota Wild 1 | 3 Toronto Maple Leafs
2nd Period
Minnesota Wild F Freddy Gaudreau left the ice after the hit from Ryan Reaves but returned at the start of the 2nd period.
Wild D Alex Goligoski got his stick in the feet of Toronto F Max Domi and tripped him and the Maple Leafs took advantage of the power play with a quick tic-tac-goal play when Wild D Jon Merrill decided to defend space instead of two Maple Leaf players at the side of the net. He tried to block the shot path to the net which left the passing lane open to Mattias Janmark just left of the net and he made a one-time short pass to Tyler Bertuzzi for a quick shot that beat Wild G Filip Gustavsson.
The Wild’s penalty kill with the floating forward defending the perimeter doesn’t seem like the greatest plan or, at the very least, it isn’t working very well to begin the season. Part of that is all 4 penalty-killers are watching the puck so they aren’t able to react to it in time to make a play on it. Read The Play!!! React to what you Read! The puck goes way too fast to react to it.
3:35 – Goal (PPG) – Tyler Bertuzzi (1) from Calle Jarnkrok (1) & Morgan Reilly (2)
Minnesota Wild 1 | 4 Toronto Maple Leafs
The Minnesota Wild responded quickly when F Matt Boldy got a drop pass from Mats Zuccarello and took advantage of the time & space that was given to him by Toronto D TJ Brodie. Boldy held the puck like he was going to shoot then took advantage of the space created and took a quick shot that beat Toronto G Ilya Samsonov to the short side.
4:09 – Goal – Minnesota – Matt Boldy (1) from Mats Zuccarello (2) & Calen Addison (1)
That’s just terrible defense by Toronto D TJ Brodie (maybe TJ No D?) because he was defending a pass to nobody instead of just going to Boldy and taking away the option to shoot:
Boldy has zero options but Brodie (#78) gives him time & space then…
He takes away a phantom passing lane that allows Boldy the time & space to shoot and beat Samsonov.
Is it too early in the season to expect a team to have the details of their game figured out?
Minnesota Wild 2 | 4 Toronto Maple Leafs
Minnesota Wild & former Gopher D Brock Faber showed great instincts on both ends of the ice to prevent a goal when he got down on one knee and made sure to get as much in the way of a pass to Auston Matthews as possible then a minute or so later he came off the bench and used his speed to go wide around the left boards then cut to the net to create a scoring chance. Toronto G Ilya Samsonov used the paddle of his goalie stick to poke check the puck away but Wild F Marcus Foligno out-battle John Tavares to get to the rebound and shoot it. Samsonov made the save but the puck deflected up in the air and Wild F Marco Rossi, who was battling for position in front of the net, knocked it out of the air for his 1st Career NHL Goal (& Bunt) and just like that, that Minnesota Wild are back within 1 goal!
9:51 – Goal – Minnesota – Marco Rossi (1) from Marcus Foligno* (1) & Brock Faber (1)
*Foligno grabbed the puck for his rookie linemate!
Minnesota Wild 3 | 4 Toronto Maple Leafs
Minnesota Wild D Jon Merrill hit the post moments later…. OHHHH!!!
The Wild allowed a couple of grade-A scoring chances to William Nylander but the Gus Bus stopped both of them.
The Minnesota Wild found their game after that 4th Toronto goal. Can they carry it into the 3rd & get a nice comeback win in Toronto?
3rd Period
Minnesota Wild F Marco Rossi set up Marcus Foligno for a chance off a Gaudreau faceoff win then got to the rebound from a bad angle then got another chance when Foligno fed him from behind the net as the Wild indeed have carried that 2nd period momentum into the 3rd period.
One of the officials called Wild D Alex Goligoski for Unsportsmanlike Conduct because he said something to him about Ryan Reaves grabbing him & Boldy during a shift. It’s a 1-goal game and you’re making that call? WOW! We call that… Officially BAD!
6:43 – Penalty – Minnesota – Alex Goligoski for Unsportsmanlike Conduct for Chirping the Official about a non-call
Obviously, we don’t know what was said but as a 17-year veteran NHL player, he should have quite a bit of leeway.***
***Check out our Game Notes section at the bottom of the article for more on this topic. Does talking to the officials help at all?
The Wild got a huge penalty kill to keep the game within 1-goal.
But… the Maple Leafs got momentum from that Power Play and a minute later they used that momentum to get some offensive zone time and with the Wild doing a little bit of puck-watching and D Jon Merrill being in front of Toronto F Calle Järnkrok so he wasn’t sure where his stick was and allowed the sharp angle pass to get through to him for an easy tip-in goal to double Toronto’s lead to 5-3.
9:54 – Goal – Toronto – Calle Järnkrok (1) from Morgan Reilly (3) & TJ Brodie (1)
Minnesota Wild 3 | 5 Toronto Maple Leafs
To pour some salt in the wound of that goal, Minnesota Wild F Matt Boldy was checked into the boards and left the ice.
Just 31 seconds later, Alex Goligoski lost a puck battle to Auston Matthews but Wild F Mats Zuccarello picked up the loose puck. He then coughed it up and Toronto F Mitch Marner beat Alex Goligoski to the loose puck to poke it back to Auston Matthews behind the net and he made this play look way more easy than it actually was as he made a slight toe drag to get the puck away from the boards then turned to go around the net on his backhand and made a turnaround backhand shot that went to the far side of the net for his 2nd consecutive hat trick to begin the season.
The Calle Järnkrok goal is on the 2nd tweet of this link:
10:25 – Goal – Toronto – Auston Matthews (6) from Mitch Marner (3)
Minnesota Wild 3 | 6 Toronto Maple Leafs
1:49 later… William Nylander made it 7-3 with a wrist shot that beat Filip Gustavsson to the short side.
The Minnesota Wild added a goal from F Brandon Duhaime to make it 7-4 but a stupid penalty/questionable call changed the momentum of the game and we’ll never know how different this game might have been if that penalty is not taken or called.
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Final
Next up:
The Minnesota Wild headed to Montreal for their next game on Tuesday, October 17th.
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