The Minnesota Wild looked to continue their winning ways against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Toronto looks like a team still trying to figure out who they are this season. They are the only team to beat the Winnipeg Jets, a 6-4 win, but they allow a little over 3 goals per game (37 in 12 games played (gp)). They also score a little over 3 goals per game (38 in 12 gp). We can’t imagine the Wild taking them lightly so it should be a good game.
2024-25 Minnesota Wild Schedule and Results
7-1-2 (W-L-OTL) (16 points)
2nd in NHL Central Division
2024-25 Toronto Maple Leafs Schedule and Results
6-5-1 (W-L-OTL) (13 points)
2nd in NHL Atlantic Division
Alright. Enough words. Let’s…
Drop the ClutterPuck!!!
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Here’s how the teams lined up:
Minnesota Wild
Status Report
Johansson took a maintenance day on Saturday but is expected to play. … Middleton missed practice for the birth of his child but is expected to play.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Status Report
Toronto is playing the second half of a back-to-back following a loss at the St. Louis Blues on Saturday.
Game Recap
1st Period
Both teams seemed to be feeling out the early part of the game as this was the first time they faced each other this season. It felt like they were playing it safe and worried about making a mistake.
The Minnesota Wild had the Maple Leafs hemmed in their zone and they were chasing the puck a little while the Wild took a few shots and retrieved the loose puck then a shot got to the front of the net. There was a scramble for the loose puck and Wild F Frederick Gaudreau got the rebound and threw a backhand shot off the left post and the puck landed near Ryan Hartman in the crease so he tried to kick at it but it went off Maple Leafs F John Tavares’ stick and in to give the Wild a 1-0 lead.
https://twitter.com/nhl_goal_bot/status/1853218483078660389
Something’s not working with embedding Twitter links so all I have are the links you can click on or you can go to the highlights at the bottom of the article.
9:41 – Goal – Minnesota – Ryan Hartman (3) from Frederick Gaudreau (4) & Jared Spurgeon (2)
Toronto Maple Leafs 0 | 1 Minnesota Wild
Wild F Marco Rossi took a hooking penalty late in the 1st period…
Is this a weak call? Should it be a hooking penalty?
…and the struggling Toronto power play scored on a beautiful seam pass across to William Nylander for a one-timer that tied the game at 1.
https://twitter.com/nhl_goal_bot/status/1853224063461679552
0:52 – Goal – PPG – Toronto – William Nylander (9) from Auston Matthews (6) & Mitch Marner (12)
Could the Wild have covered that better? I don’t know. That’s a sauce pass over a couple of Wild sticks but that is the pass they want to take away because that’s the hardest shot for your goalie to stop in that situation so maybe Jonas Brodin could go to Matthews to force him to get rid of it quicker or to move it somewhere else. The Maple Leafs were struggling on the power play so does that affect how the Wild played that? Hopefully not.
Toronto Maple Leafs 1 | 1 Minnesota Wild
2nd & 3rd Period
The 2nd period was pretty even with shots 11-10 in favor of the Wild. In the 3rd the Wild took control but both goalies were up to the task and kept the puck out of the net so this one went to…
OVERTIME!!!
Hey, some FREE HOCKEY…
The Minnesota Wild had a good chance when F Marco Rossi made a move but lost the puck so Maple Leafs F Max Domi chipped it forward so he could skate into it thinking he might have a breakaway but he didn’t realize Jared Spurgeon was so close to him and already had some momentum. Spurgeon easily outskated Domi to the puck. Toronto D Oliver Ekman-Larsson went off for a change and F Max Pacioretty was… watching the game? Who knows? So Spurgeon just passed the puck up the middle to Rossi & because Boldy had more speed, Rossi gave it to him to go in alone on the goaltender…
If you like the one & only Steve Dangle, here’s his take on that… umm… questionable play from Max Domi, Oliver Ekman-Larsson & Max Pacioretty…
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Final
Tampa Bay Lightning 3 | 5 Minnesota Wild
Goals
MN:
Ryan Hartman (3); Matt Boldy (6)
TOR: William Nylander (9)
Assists
MN:
Frederick Gaudreau (3), Jared Spurgeon (2); Marco Rossi (7), Jared Spurgeon (3)
TOR:
Auston Matthews (6), Mitch Marner (12)
Goalies
MN:
Filip Gustavsson
26 Saves on 29 Shots; .897 Save %, 2.12 GAA*; 6th Win
TBL:
Anthony Stolarz
27 Saves on 28 Shots; .964 Save %, 2.38 GAA*; 2nd Loss
*Goals Against Average
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Game Notes
Toronto was also on the back end of a back-to-back where they were technically playing less than 24 hours after their previous game. They played in St. Louis at 6 pm in a game that ended at 8:25 pm then had to get on a plane for a 95-minute flight then play at 5 pm for this game. That’s weird and seems wrong especially when you’d think the NHL would want their teams to be able to play their best every night to have as much entertainment value as possible so why do this? It is legal under the CBA but should it be? Or, should it at least be amended? Idk. I guess back-to-backs are a part of the season and there’s probably not an easy way to get around it.
A 2:30 clip about it from SDPN, Steve Dangle & Chris Johnston
Next up:
The 7-3-3 (W-L-OTL) Los Angeles Kings come to visit the Wild at home on Tuesday at 7 pm on FanDuel Sports Network North!
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