Wild hold off Leafs' surge
TORONTO -- Jason Zucker, Chris Stewart and Eric Staal each scored a goal and the Minnesota Wild defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 on Wednesday night.
The Wild (13-8-4) won their second game in a row to finish a five-game road trip with a 2-1-2 record.
Ben Smith and Tyler Bozak scored for the Maple Leafs (10-10-5), who lost three in a row.
Devan Dubnyk stopped 35 shots in the Minnesota goal and held of a surge by the Maple Leafs, who battled back from 2-0 and 3-1 deficits.
Toronto goaltender Frederik Andersen made 17 saves.
The Maple Leafs were pressing in the third period and had a power-play opportunity when Wild defenseman took an interference penalty at 12:46.
Minnesota held firm during the power play.
The Maple Leafs removed Andersen for an extra attacker with 2:09 to play. Dubnyk made a big save with about a minute to play.
Linesman Steve Miller was helped from the ice after being hit by the puck on the left knee on a shot by Maple Leafs defenseman Roman Polak.
Minnesota took the lead at 8:42 of the first period when Zucker scored his fourth goal of the season from the slot after Mikko Koivu took the puck away from Nazem Kadri behind the net.
The Wild took a 2-0 lead at 14:22 of the first when Stewart was allowed to skate in alone and apply a nifty move on Andersen for his fourth goal of the season.
The Maple Leafs got a goal back when Smith popped in his second of the season on a rebound at 16:50 of the first.
Staal tucked in a backhander at 1:15 of the second period to restore Minnesota's two-goal lead with his sixth goal of the season and his third against Toronto.
Bozak scored his sixth goal of the season at 10:54 of the second, unassisted. He danced around Wild defenseman Matt Dumba before putting in a backhand to cut the Wild lead to 3-2.
NOTES: The Maple Leafs promoted G Antoine Bibeau from the Marlies of the American Hockey League and he was the backup goaltender Wednesday. He replaced G Jhonas Enroth, who cleared waivers, and has been loaned to the Marlies. ... Minnesota reassigned RW Zack Mitchell and D Gustav Olofsson to Iowa of the AHL. ...The Wild recalled LW Teemu Pulkkinen from Iowa. He had one goal in eight games with Minnesota after being claimed off waivers from the Detroit Red Wings on Oct. 11. He has eight goals and seven assists in 16 games with Iowa. ... The Wild completed a five-game trip Wednesday and will return home for a game Friday against the Edmonton Oilers. ... The Maple Leafs will visit the Boston Bruins for a game Saturday.