Jared Spurgeon and Marat Khusnutdinov scored in the first period, Filip Gustavsson stopped 31 shots, and the Minnesota Wild beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-1.

Squaring off with nearly identical records entering Wednesday’s contest, the Toronto Maple Leafs were presented with a key opportunity to get out of a rut against a quality Minnesota Wild team, with a four-game road trip on the horizon before the 4 Nations Face-Off break.

Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews addressed concerns regarding the significant decline in the team's offensive production following their third consecutive loss, a 3-1 defeat to the Minnesot

Filip Gustavsson made 31 saves as the Minnesota Wild edged Toronto 3-1 on Wednesday, sending the Maple Leafs to a third straight regulation loss.

The message, clearly, was received and understood, as Hynes’ team put together a 60-minute effort for its latest in a notable resume of road wins this season. The Wild got a pair of first period goals and played a strong defensive game in a 3-1 win in Toronto, beating the Maple Leafs in regulation for the first time since 2019.

The Toronto Maple Leafs dropped a 3-1 decision against the Minnesota Wild at the Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday night.

Jared Spurgeon scored what turned out to be the winning goal in the first period and the visiting Minnesota Wild went on to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-1 on Wednesday night. Marat Khusnutdinov and Marcus Foligno also scored for the Wild, who have won the first two games of a five-game road trip after losing five of their previous six.

With the 4 Nations Face-Off only a few weeks away, Toronto might want to keep Auston Matthews away, and given there's no real punishment for it, he should agree. Though it wasn't a surprise to see ...

Leafs dug a hole and they started early. Auston Matthews tries to knock down Jared Spurgeon's shot but it gets by Woll instead pic.twitter.com/q2NjvvUE52 After one it was 2-0 Wild. The Leafs had 63% Corsi and 48% Expected Goals. It's almost like that might be part of the problem along with some bad luck and a vague sense of ennui.