Final
Maple Leafs stifle Wild for third straight win
Oct 16, 2013 - 3:43 AM Toronto, ON (SportsNetwork.com) - Mason Raymond tallied a pair of goals as the Toronto Maple Leafs stayed hot with a 4-1 win over the Minnesota Wild at Air Canada Centre.Raymond scored his first of the game in the second period and added a late empty-netter for Toronto, which won its third straight game. Tyler Bozak and Trevor Smith also scored in the victory.
"It was tough, they're a good team," said Bozak. "They play hard, they don't give you much out there. We found a way to get it done, and that's the most important thing."
James Reimer, making his first appearance in goal after he was pulled for Jonathan Bernier in the second period of a win over Ottawa on Oct. 5, stood tall between the pipes, stopping 37-of-38 shots.
"You want contribution from everybody all over the ice," said Raymond. Reims tonight was huge. From our standpoint, we didn't have the best game ever, didn't have a lot of shots on net, but at the end of the day we found a way to win.
Jason Pominville scored the lone goal for the Wild, who lost in regulation for just the second time this season. Minnesota out-shot the Leafs, 37-14.
"We can't dwell on it," said Wild head coach Mike Yeo. "When you're getting chances, you're doing good things. When you're doing good things, you'll get rewarded."
Darcy Kuemper allowed three goals on seven shots before giving way to Josh Harding, who turned away all six shots he faced.
Terrific puck movement on an early power-play led to the first goal of the game. Toronto charged down the ice on the man-advantage with Phil Kessel, who fired a cross-ice pass to Cody Franson. Franson controlled and slid a pass to a crashing Dave Bolland, who dropped it off to Bozak for the one-timer goal.
Toronto added a second goal at the 13:51 mark of the first period. Morgan Reilly zipped a pass from his own zone to a streaking Smith, who controlled the puck and aimed a wrister that trickled through Kuemper's five-hole and into the goal.
Minnesota cut the deficit in half with a tally late in the first. Pominville, who scored the game-winner in a 2-1 win over Buffalo on Monday, batted home his own rebound from point blank range with 2:33 left.
Raymond scored the only goal of the second period when he collected a pass from Nazem Kadri and made a nifty move before sneaking a shot past Kuemper. Harding then replaced the young Canadian in net.
The Wild had opportunities to get back in the game in the third period, but Reimer stopped all 14 shots he faced in the final 20 minutes. Raymond's empty- netter at the 19:01 mark put it away.
Game Notes
The Leafs became the first team in the NHL to reach six wins this season ... Toronto has won eight of 11 all-time meetings with the Wild, and have taken six of seven in Toronto ... Smith scored his first goal since 2011-12 ... Reilly and Franson each had a pair of assists.
- MINNESOTA: 1
TORONTO: 4
Final
Oct 15 9:33 PM - MINNESOTA: 1
TORONTO: 3
End of 2nd
Oct 15 8:41 PM - Toronto Power-Play Goal - Mason Raymond (3), at 12:22.
Wild 1, Maple Leafs 3 2nd - 7:38Oct 15 8:26 PM - MINNESOTA: 1
TORONTO: 2
End of 1st
Oct 15 7:45 PM - Toronto Power-Play Goal - Tyler Bozak (3), from Dave Bolland at 4:23.
Wild 0, Maple Leafs 1 1st - 15:37Oct 15 7:16 PM - MINNESOTA: 0
TORONTO: 0
1st Period - 20:00
Oct 15 7:09 PM
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