Wild rake in Toronto, blowing past Leafs

TORONTO – When everything is clicking for the Minnesota Wild, this is what it’s supposed to look like. Patient, disciplined, accurate and effective, all coming together to dominate a foe.

Playing with a somewhat patched together lineup in Canada’s largest hockey markets, the Wild took advantage of everything the Toronto Maple Leafs offered, winning their second game on this three-outing road trip 6-3 on Monday.

Marcus Foligno scored three and Vladimir Tarasenko had a pair of goals for Minnesota, which got 27 saves from Filip Gustavsson in the only visit they will make to Toronto this season.

With two assists in the game, Quinn Hughes became the fastest player to reach 20 points in a Wild uniform, doing so in his 18th game.

The Maple Leafs came in on a heater, having gone 9-1-3 in their previous 13 games, but Minnesota cooled things off quickly.

The Wild were outshot early, but they made their first shot on goal count. On the game’s first power play, Ryan Hartman fed a pass to Tarasenko, alone at the side of the Toronto crease, and the Russian veteran snapped in his 10th goal of the season.

When Hartman scored off a faceoff play in the offensive zone, the crowd got mostly quiet, and the Wild looked content to take their 2-0 lead into the first intermission. It was Hartman’s fifth goal in Minnesota’s past seven games.

But a four-minute high-sticking call on Minnesota captain Jared Spurgeon put the Wild penalty killers to the test and opened the door for Toronto to get the audience re-engaged.

The Leafs needed just 18 seconds of man advantage to get on the board, when former Gophers star Matthew Knies passed from below the goal line to John Tavares for a quick shot.

The Leafs killed a Wild power play early in the middle frame, only to have Foligno tip a Brock Faber shot past Toronto goalie Joseph Woll, putting Minnesota back up by a pair. Then Hughes set up Tarasenko for a breakaway goal, and Foligno tipped another Faber shot to effectively put things away.

Gustavsson, playing in his 200th career game, kept things mostly quiet the rest of the way, allowing a third period goal when he was unable to corral a loose puck in the crease with a pileup of bodies making the task more challenging.

Leafs star Auston Matthews got a breakaway goal late in the third to make it interesting, but Foligno completed his first career hat trick into an empty net.

Woll finished with 24 saves for Toronto in the opening 40 minutes. Dennis Hildeby came on for the third period for the Leafs, who make their only visit to St. Paul on March 15. Hildeby finished with nine saves.

The Leafs were playing without standout forward William Nylander, who is third on the team in goals with 17.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Previous post Brooks y Booker impulsan a los Suns a una victoria 126-117 sobre los Nets en apuros
Next post La campeona defensora Madison Keys remonta y avanza a la 2da ronda del Abierto de Australia