Maple Leafs at Wild
After barely escaping what would have been a brutal third straight defeat, the Toronto Maple Leafs resume their road trip against the Minnesota Wild on Friday night. The Maple Leafs blew a two-goal lead for the third game in a row, but persevered to edge Boston in a shootout. "We needed it. That's for sure," Toronto coach Randy Carlyle said. "The one thing we tried to preach to our group was there has to be a stop sign to what we were doing."
Minnesota will be happy to turn the calendar to 2015 after dropping six of its last seven (1-3-3), including a 3-1 setback at Columbus on Wednesday night to fall to a season-low 11th place in the Western Conference. "Doesn’t mean the world is ending, but at the same time, we want to make sure that we’re making progress, so we better be ready to do so next game," Wild coach Mike Yeo said. Minnesota is seeking its first home win since Dec. 9, having dropped four in a row (0-3-1).
TV: 8 p.m. ET, RSNO (Toronto), FSN North (Minnesota)
ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS (21-14-3): Leo Komarov returned to the lineup Wednesday after a 14-game absence due to a concussion, but the Maple Leafs lost two players against Boston, sending forwards Joffrey Lupul (lower body) and Peter Holland (upper body) back to Toronto to undergo MRI exams. Lupul, who has already been missed 12 games, was on crutches Wednesday night and placed on injured reserve Thursday, putting him on the shelf for at least a week. The Maple Leafs recalled Greg McKegg from the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League.
ABOUT THE WILD (17-14-4): Minnesota plays four of its next five at home and needs to raise its game to turn around the recent struggles with top contenders San Jose, Chicago and Nashville following Toronto. Goaltender Darcy Kuemper, who has been pulled in four of his last five at Xcel Energy Center, has turned in consecutive solid outings and Nicklas Backstrom (illness) is expected to make his first start this weekend since Dec. 17. Defenseman Jonas Brodin returned to practice Thursday and is expected to play versus the Maple Leafs.
OVERTIME
1. Maple Leafs leading scorer Phil Kessel halted a six-game goalless drought Wednesday and recorded his 500th career point.
2. The Wild have surrendered three power-play tallies in the last two games.
3. Toronto has two wins in its last seven visits to Minnesota - each via shutout.