Wild Defeat Maple Leafs 3-1 as Shore Ends Scoring Drought

TORONTO — The Minnesota Wild secured a 3-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night at Scotiabank Arena, with Devin Shore notching an assist to end a 12-game point drought. The win marked Minnesota’s second consecutive victory, improving their record to 3-5-0 in their last eight games.

Shore, 30, has struggled to maintain a consistent role this season, being scratched three times during his scoring slump. Since clearing waivers on Jan. 14, he has appeared in five games. If he plays in each of the Wild’s final five games before the 4 Nations Face-Off, he would require waivers again to be reassigned to AHL Iowa. Shore has recorded two assists, 20 shots on net, 37 hits, and 19 blocked shots over 29 appearances this season.

Minnesota took control early, with Marat Khusnutdinov scoring 7:07 into the first period. Captain Jared Spurgeon extended the lead to 2-0 with a power-play goal at 15:35, aided by an inadvertent tip from Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews. Toronto‘s William Nylander cut the deficit to 2-1 with his team-leading 29th goal at 8:06 of the third period, but Marcus Foligno sealed the win with an empty-net goal in the final minute.

Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson stopped 31 shots, while Maple Leafs netminder Joseph Woll made 22 saves. Minnesota played without leading scorer Kirill Kaprizov, who is set to undergo surgery for a lower-body injury and is expected to miss at least four weeks. Kaprizov has 52 points (23 goals, 29 assists) this season, ranking fifth in the NHL with an average of 1.41 points per game.

Toronto, which has lost three straight in regulation, saw the return of defenseman Timothy Liljegren after a three-game absence due to an upper-body injury. The Maple Leafs will look to rebound Saturday when they visit the Edmonton Oilers to open a four-game road trip.

The Wild, meanwhile, will face the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday, where veteran goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury is expected to start. The 40-year-old Quebec native, in his final NHL season, holds a 10-5-1 record with a .904 save percentage and 2.61 goals-against average.