Maple Leafs Hang On in Minnesota: Stolarz Slams the Door
Just when the points are not that valuable for the Toronto Maple Leafs, they picked up another rare two points Sunday night. They had to beat one of the NHL’s better teams to do so and held off the Minnesota Wild for a 4–2 win in a game that felt a lot closer than the final score suggests.
The Minnesota Wild pushed hard in the third period but came up short.
Minnesota pushed hard in the third period and nearly turned the night upside down, but the Maple Leafs survived. The big reason was goaltender Anthony Stolarz, who delivered one of his better performances in recent weeks with 36 saves. The Wild threw everything they could toward the net late, but Stolarz kept turning shots aside and gave Toronto just enough breathing room to finish the job.
The win continues a small but noticeable stretch of progress for the Leafs. Over the past few games, they’ve started collecting points again, grabbing five out of a possible six during the weekend. After a stretch earlier in the season where things felt like they were slipping away — especially when Auston Matthews went down with injury — the team has slowly begun to show a little more urgency in its game.
The Maple Leafs got two goals from an unlikely source.
As for the scoring, the Maple Leafs got contributions from a few different places. Morgan Rielly scored the first goal, while Bo Groulx had a big night with two goals of his own. Matthew Knies added the finishing touch late, sliding the puck into an empty net to seal the 4–2 win. It wasn’t always smooth for Toronto, but the scoring was just enough to hold off Minnesota’s late push.
The Wild had most of the puck possession during the game, but it didn't translate to a win.
That urgency didn’t always translate into puck possession in Minnesota. In fact, there were long stretches where the Wild controlled play. Toronto spent too much time defending and leaned heavily on its goalie to keep the score under control. Still, hockey doesn’t always reward the prettier effort. Sometimes you just need a few opportunistic goals and a goalie willing to stand tall when things get messy.
Another interesting subplot developing for Toronto is the goaltending situation. Joseph Woll has played extremely well lately and has taken on a larger share of the workload. But Stolarz answered in a big way in this one. If nothing else, the Maple Leafs suddenly have something every contender wants down the stretch: internal competition in the crease.
The Wild needed the win far more than the Maple Leafs.
For Minnesota, the loss stings. The Wild are trying to prove they can finally make some noise in the playoffs after years of early exits, and a four-game homestand like this was supposed to help build momentum. Instead, they ran into a Toronto team that fought hard and took home a rare road win.
The Maple Leafs now turn their attention to their next home game — a St. Patrick’s Day matchup against the New York Islanders — where they’ll try to keep this small run of momentum going.