MINNESOTA WILD (29-17-4) at TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (30-18-2)
When: Wednesday, 7 p.m., Scotiabank Arena
TV: Sportsnet Radio: The Fan 590
Odds: Wild +119, Maple Leafs -147
The buzz
After winning four in a row from Dec. 31 to Jan. 7, the Wild has lost six of its past nine games, all in regulation. The challenge to get back to consistently winning will rise with the news on Tuesday that star winger Kirill Kaprizov will have surgery for a lower-body injury and will be out on a week-to-week basis … In the previous 20 meetings between the Wild and Maple Leafs, Minnesota has the edge with a record of 11-7-2, including a 2-1 win in overtime at St. Paul on Nov. 2, the only other clash this season … The Wild is 7-5-1 in games without Kaprizov in 2024-25. He has a team-high 52 points in 37 games, though this latest absence is bound to take him out of consideration for the Hart Trophy … There’s a good chance Leafs captain Auston Matthews will tie, if not pass, Darryl Sittler for second-most goals in team history. Matthews’ 388 goals has him one behind the 389 Sittler scored for Toronto, and Matthews has played in 247 fewer games. We like Matthews’ chances to score on Wednesday, as he has 11 goals in 13 career games versus the Wild … Minnesota has among the worst penalty-killing units in the NHL, sitting 30th before games on Tuesday at 70.2%. Only Detroit (69.6%) and the New York Islanders (68.3%) were below the Wild … After Wednesday, the Leafs won’t play at home again until Feb. 22 against Carolina. On Thursday, they head west for a four-game trip starting on Saturday in Edmonton and will then enjoy the break for the 4 Nations Face-Off. After the game against the Hurricanes, they will have another four-game trip from Feb. 23-March 2.
The news
Veteran winger Max Pacioretty looks good to return to the Leafs lineup after missing the past three games with an upper-body injury … A start by Joseph Woll in the Toronto net would be the second of his career against Minnesota and first at Scotiabank Arena. In the other one, he made 33 saves in a 4-3 Leafs road win on Nov. 19, 2023 … Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson is expected to start for the visitors. He has a 2-1-1 record in four career games against the Leafs, posting an .890 save percentage.
The quote
“Not really. They’re a good team. They have played without him this year and won a bunch of games. He’s a great player, we all know that, but they have a good team. They have a lot of good players, they play a good team-structured game. It’s not going to be an easy game.”
— Berube on whether anything changes for the Leafs with the news that Kaprizov will be out
The poll
With chatter about the 4 Nations Face-Off starting to pick up, which Leafs player has the best chance of coming home a champion?
The projected Leafs lineup
Forwards
Bobby McMann / Auston Matthews / Mitch Marner
Max Domi / Pontus Holmberg / William Nylander
Max Pacioretty / Fraser Minten / Nick Robertson
Steven Lorentz / David Kampf /Ryan Reaves
Defence
Morgan Rielly / Jake McCabe
Oliver Ekman-Larsson / Chris Tanev
Simon Benoit / Philippe Myers
Goal
Joseph Woll
Matt Murray
The injuries
TOR: C John Tavares (lower body), LW Matthew Knies (upper body), G Anthony Stolarz (knee), F Calle Jarnkrok (groin), D Jani Hakanpaa (knee), F Connor Dewar (upper body), F Jacob Quillan (undisclosed).
MIN: LW Kirill Kaprizov (lower body), F Marcus Johansson (upper body), D Jonas Brodin (lower body), G Troy Grosenick (knee).
The prediction
The Leafs give the home crowd something to cheer about before heading to Edmonton. 4-2 Toronto.
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