Matthews scores 35, 36; Maple Leafs defeat Wild to end skid
Auston Matthews broke a third-period tie with his second goal, and the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Minnesota Wild 3-1 at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday.
Matthews gave the Maple Leafs a 2-1 lead with 9:38 remaining. He stole the puck from Brandon Duhaime on the backcheck, leading to a 2-on-1 with Mitchell Marner, who passed to Matthews for a tap-in at the top of the crease. He leads the NHL with 36 goals.
Petr Mrazek made 29 saves for the Maple Leafs (33-14-4), who had lost three in a row.
Frederick Gaudreau scored, and Kaapo Kahkonen made 22 saves for the Wild (31-15-3), who have lost four of five.
The Wild took a 1-0 lead at 8:37 of the second period when Gaudreau one-timed a pass from Matt Boldy, who was behind the net.
Matthews tied it 1-1 27 seconds later when he carried the puck through the neutral zone and shot from the top of the left circle.
Alexander Kerfoot scored an empty-net goal with 42 seconds left to make it 3-1.
Toronto did not have a shot on goal until 9:56 of the first period, when Kahkonen made a blocker save on Michael Bunting.
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LEAFS WIN!!
Back home and back in the win column! #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/P9uETp8F6v
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