The Minnesota Wild took care of business in their cross-conference matchup against the Toronto Maple Leafs. By a score of 3-1, the Wild took down one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference and handed the Leafs their third straight loss.
The Maple Leafs are pushing through a rough stretch of games. Posting a 4-6 record in their last 10 games, the Leafs have dropped three in a row and fallen from first place in the Atlantic Division to trailing the Florida Panthers.
The glaring issue for the Leafs currently is their failure to score. They netted a lone goal in each of their last three losses, and they are struggling to create multiple scoring chances throughout the game and cannot maintain strong offensive zone time and possession.
That struggle has stretched throughout their lineup. Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews and William Nylander each have one goal in their last three games. Mitch Marner has a singular assist over this brief losing streak. No line or player is having an easy time over the last few games, and their offense has taken a huge hit because of it.
The victory also gives the Wild back-to-back wins as they attempt to snap out of their own cold streak. They’d previously dropped six of their last 10 games, but now have wins in successive games over the Chicago Blackhawks and Maple Leafs.
The Wild are now closing in on second place in the Central Division, trailing the Dallas Stars by just one point. What makes this even more impressive is that the Wild are doing this without their best player and MVP candidate forward Kirill Kaprizov. They’ll be without him for another month longer at least, but they can hopefully carry this win over into their next contest.
