Wild at Maple Leafs
The Minnesota Wild attempt to strengthen their hold on the top wild-card spot in the Western Conference when they visit the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday. Minnesota owns a one-point lead over Winnipeg for the first wild card but also has a chance to gain a higher playoff slot as it trails Chicago by five points for third place in the Central Division. The Wild are coming off their ninth win in 12 games, an impressive 6-3 triumph over St. Louis on Saturday in which Justin Fontaine recorded a goal and two assists.
Minnesota also is looking to complete a sweep of the two-game season series after posting a 3-1 victory at home on Jan. 2. That setback was the start of a horrific calendar year for Toronto, which has gone 6-26-3 since the beginning of January. The Maple Leafs' current losing streak reached five games Saturday, as they dropped a 5-3 decision at Ottawa.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FSN North, FSN Wisconsin (Minnesota), TSN4 (Toronto)
ABOUT THE WILD (40-25-7): As Devan Dubnyk goes, so go the Wild. The 28-year-old has started all 30 games for Minnesota since being acquired from Arizona on Jan. 14, going 22-6-1 with five shutouts, a 1.77 goals-against average and a .935 save percentage. Thomas Vanek enters Monday with a seven-game point streak during which he has collected five goals and three assists.
ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS (27-40-6): All was not lost in the defeat against the Senators as several players accomplished firsts. Joakim Lindstrom scored his first goal in 10 games since being acquired from St. Louis and defenseman Tim Erixon tallied for his first point in six contests after being claimed off waivers from Chicago. Rookie Sam Carrick also got in on the act, notching an assist for his first point in 12 NHL games.
OVERTIME
1. The Wild have won only one of their seven all-time visits to Air Canada Centre (1-6-0).
2. Toronto RW Phil Kessel is tied with LW James van Riemsdyk for the team lead with 24 goals but has scored just one in his last 12 games.
3. Minnesota has earned a league-best 41 points (20-5-1) since the All-Star break.