Wild win 3-1 to hand Maple Leafs third straight regulation loss

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Minnesota Wild’s Marcus Foligno (17) celebrates his empty net goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs during third period NHL hockey action in Toronto on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

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Toronto Maple Leafs’ Mitch Marner (front centre) is checked as he screens Minnesota Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson (32) during second period NHL hockey action in Toronto on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

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Minnesota Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson (32) makes a save as Devin Shore (19) battles with Toronto Maple Leafs’ Pontus Holmberg (29) during second period NHL hockey action in Toronto on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

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Minnesota Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson (32) watches as Toronto Maple Leafs’ William Nylander (88) chases the puck during second period NHL hockey action in Toronto on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

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Toronto Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews (34) tries to tip the puck in front of Minnesota Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson (32) as Jake Middleton (5) defends during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Toronto on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

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Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll (60) makes a save as Minnesota Wild’s Joel Eriksson Ek (14) and Maple Leafs’ Chris Tanev (8) look for the rebound during first period NHL hockey action in Toronto on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

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Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll (60) is scored on by Minnesota Wild’s Jared Spurgeon as Wild’s Joel Eriksson Ek battles with Maple Leafs’ Jake McCabe (22) during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Toronto on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

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Minnesota Wild’s Mats Zuccarello moves the puck between Toronto Maple Leafs’ Morgan Rielly (44) and Auston Matthews during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Toronto on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

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Minnesota Wild’s Marcus Foligno (17) scores on the empty net as Toronto Maple Leafs’ William Nylander (88) defends during the third period of an NHL hockey game in Toronto, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

TORONTO (AP) — Jared Spurgeon and Marat Khusnutdinov scored in the first period, Filip Gustavsson stopped 31 shots, and the Minnesota Wild beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-1 on Wednesday night.

Marcus Foligno added an empty-netter in the final minute as Minnesota won its second straight to improve to 3-5-0 in their last eight games.

William Nylander scored for Toronto, which has lost three straight in regulation. Joseph Woll had 22 saves.

The Wild were without leading-scorer Kirill Kaprizov (lower-body injury), who is is set to undergo surgery and is expected to miss at least four weeks.

Khusnutdinov scored 7:07 into the game and Spurgeon made it 2-0 with 4:25 to go in the opening period.

Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews hit the post on a shot through traffic later in the period before Nylander rattled Gustavsson’s crossbar on a breakaway in the second.

Nylander cut the deficit in half at 8:6 of the third with his team-leading 29th goal of the season, but Foligno iced it late with Woll on the bench for an extra attacker.

Takeaways

Wild: Veteran goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury will play in Montreal one more time Thursday when Minnesota visits the Canadiens. The 40-year-old from Quebec, is 10-5-1 with a .904 save percentage and 2.61 goals-against average in his final NHL season.

Maple Leafs: Max Pacioretty (upper-body injury) returned to the lineup following a three-game absence.

Key moment

Spurgeon made it 2-0 on a man advantage with his sixth of the season when Matthews inadvertently tipped the defenseman’s point shot past Woll.

Key stat

Kaprizov, who missed his 14th game because of injury, has 52 points (23 goals, 29 assists) in 2024-25. The 27-year-old entered Wednesday with an average of 1.41 points per contest, which placed him fifth in the NHL.

Up Next

Wild play at Montreal on Thursday, and Maple Leafs visit Edmonton on Saturday to open a four-game trip.

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AP NHL: https://ww.apnews.com/hub/NHL