Maple Leafs end skid, defeat Wild, 3-1

In Toronto, Auston Matthews hit a double on Thursday night, and the Maple Leafs defeated the Minnesota Wild, 3-1.

“I just thought we stuck through with it for a full 60 minutes,” Matthews said. “There wasn’t a whole lot going on out there offensively for both teams, it was a pretty structured game. I thought Mrazek made some pretty incredible saves tonight when we had breakdowns and we capitalized on a couple chances. So it was nice to get back in the win column, we just want to keep this moving and going.”

Petr Mrazek made 29 saves in the Leafs win.

“I thought it was really solid and disciplined,” Toronto head coach Sheldon Keefe said. “I thought we were committed to it. It was a very low-event hockey game, not the most exciting game for sure. Our guys just stayed committed to it, trying to find ways to crack through offensively. Give Minnesota credit for how they competed and how they played, but we’ve been challenging our guys to be more committed defensively and more focused on it. So the fact we stayed disciplined in this type of game, where there wasn’t a lot happening offensively, is really good for our team.”

The Maple Leafs improved to 33-14-4.

The Wild took a 1-0 lead off a goal from Frederick Gaudreau.

“One mistake or one special player, right?” Minnesota head coach Dean Evason said. “I don’t think it was a mistake as opposed to him making a special play. He’s one of the best players in the world for a reason. We really liked our game, certainly. They didn’t have a shot for 10 minutes in the first period. We did a lot of really good things, and it was just a matter of one break somehow and they got it.”

Matthews tied the game 27 seconds after the Wild took the lead.

“Our team is playing a good team game, but when not a lot is happening, you need somebody to make a play and be a gamebreaker,” Keefe said. “That first goal he scored, there’s a small number of players in the league that can score a goal like that, and the second goal, it was completely earned, completely effort-based.

“He finds a way to come through with huge goals at big times in the game, and he’s done that all season, and you see the commitment defensively.”

Alexander Kerfoot added an empty-net goal for the 3-1 final.

“I think we got the sense of it pretty early on,” Matthews said. “I remember looking up at the shots on net and it was like 0-3 halfway through the first. When you play teams with really good structure, I think it’s important not to get frustrated, stay patient because it’s a long game. Just because you aren’t getting chances in the first period doesn’t mean you are not going to get them later in the game when you really wear their defense down.”

Kaapo Kahkonen made 22 saves in the Wild loss.

“We didn’t have a lot of energy,” Evason said. “It was that type of game anyway, but it just didn’t seem like our normal energy, and we’re trying to figure out obviously why.

“It didn’t look like we had that same jump we normally do. Our offensive zone, we didn’t have a lot of sustained stuff down there. We didn’t find pucks, get to pucks really quickly, so we’ll try to figure it out.”