Wild coach John Hynes sent a message to his team after a relatively lifeless home loss last Saturday. Hynes put two of his regulars – forward Yakov Trenin and defenseman Declan Chisholm – in street clothes for a game in Chicago on Sunday.
The message, not only to Trenin and Chisholm but to the entire roster, was that even with the injuries the Wild are dealing with, there are no passengers allowed on the line chart. Hynes expects an every-night effort from all 20 players on the game night roster.
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.
“We had really strong work ethic. I thought our competitive level was high. I thought we played fast in the way we skated, in the way that we moved the puck,” Hynes said. “I thought our attention to tonight, all night, was very good.”
Marat Khusnutdinov and Jared Spurgeon scored early, as the Wild held a two-goal lead until nearly the midway point of the third period. After the Maple Leafs got on the board to make it a one-goal game, Minnesota goalie Filip Gustavsson made several of his 32 saves down the stretch, before Marcus Foligno sealed the victory with an empty net goal.
It was clearly evident that Hynes had gotten his point across with his fourth line playing aggressive hockey and getting the Wild on the board first.
Khusnutdinov, who had recorded just one goal this season, in a Dec. 10 win at Utah, opened the scoring on a classic “crash the net” play after Jakub Lauko rode Toronto defenseman Morgan Rielly into the end boards and came away with the puck, feeding a pass to Khusnutdinov for a quick wrist shot.
“I think we did a good job, all four lines, throughout the lineup,” said Lauko. “The guys played for each other and joined each other, so it was a good team effort. (Toronto) had a push throughout the game, and we knew it was going to happen. They have some high-end players, but I think we played we played it well, and when something got through, Gus was there.”
On the game’s first power play, the Wild needed just five seconds of man advantage to double the lead. After winning the faceoff, Spurgeon got the puck at the blue line and fired from there, with the puck appearing to deflect off a Toronto stick before bouncing between the goalie’s knees. For Spurgeon, it was the 400th point of his career, and his third point in the four games he has played since returning from missing much of January with a lower body injury.
The Wild killed their first penalty in the middle period, and they got some puck luck on their side with both Auston Matthews and William Nylander hitting the pipe with shots.
Nylander scored on a deflected shot in the third period to finally get the Scotiabank Arena crowd involved, and the Leafs pressured in the Minnesota zone for much of the final 10 minutes before Foligno got his second empty net goal in as many games.
Joseph Woll had 22 saves for Toronto, which has lost three in a row.
For the Wild, it was a kind of statement game as well, coming on the heels of the news that star forward Kirill Kaprizov will miss likely another month with the lower body injury that is being surgically repaired this week.
“For sure missing Kirill is hard, but we’ve got to make it work,” Wild forward Joel Eriksson Ek said, praising his team’s overall defensive effort.
With the win, Gustavsson became the fifth Swedish goalie in NHL history to record three consecutive 20-win seasons, joining Henrik Lundqvist, Jacob Markstrom, Tommy Salo and Linus Ullmark on that list. Perhaps more importantly, Gustavsson seems to have fought his way out of the doldrums after a few subpar starts in a row.
“I don’t think even when it wasn’t going his way he was too, too far off. Maybe a save or two, or an untimely goal that went in. But I thought his mindset and the way he was going about his business was there,” Hynes said. “The last two games look much more like him, and when he plays like that, he gives us a chance every night.”
Toronto was playing without former Gophers star Matthew Knies, who was placed on injured reserve by the Maple Leafs on Wednesday due to an upper body injury. He is listed as day to day.
Minnesota’s five game road swing continues on Thursday with its lone visit to Montreal this season for a 6 p.m. CST first faceoff with the Canadiens.
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