ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Calle Jarnkrok scored the go-ahead goal midway through the second period, and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat Minnesota 4-3 on Friday and spoiled Wild goalie Marc-Andre Fleury‘s return to the net.
Mitch Marner scored first for Toronto to stretch his point streak to 15 straight games and extend the longest run in the NHL this season. Zach Aston-Reese and William Nylander each had a goal and John Tavares had two assists for the Maple Leafs, who started their four-game trip Wednesday by stopping New Jersey’s 13-game winning streak.
Kirill Kaprizov scored on a power play and Matt Boldy had the second goal for the Wild, who welcomed newly acquired right wing Ryan Reaves to their heavy third line and kept up the offensive momentum from a 6-1 win Wednesday over Winnipeg.
With the Wild net empty, Mats Zuccarello scored with 3:34 left to cut the lead to one. But Maple Leafs goalie Matt Murray was up to the task of finishing it off. He stopped 25 shots.
Fleury missed the previous three games with an upper-body injury. He appeared a little rusty, especially in the middle of the first period when Aston-Reese pivoted around defenseman Matt Dumba and sneaked in a bad-angle shot that zipped between the goalie’s pads. Aston-Reese looked pleasantly surprised the puck went in during the celebratory scrum with his linemates.
The 20-year veteran Fleury was out of position on Jarnkrok’s winner. He made a big blocker save on a shot by Mark Giordano that ricocheted in front for an easy knock-in of the rebound.
With 6:37 left, Nylander’s slap shot from the slot zipped past Fleury’s stick side to put the game away and elicit a roar from the many Maple Leafs supporters in attendance.
The Wild wore their green-and-yellow alternate jerseys – the throwback nod to the old Minnesota North Stars – on their customary day-after-Thanksgiving matinee and gave their fans plenty to shout about. Kaprizov’s tip-in of a rebound of Joel Eriksson Ek‘s shot gave him a team-high 12 goals. Boldy’s one-timer off a pass from Alex Goligoski was a clinic in how to work a rush.
Connor Dewar had a breakaway in the closing minute of the second period that Murray stonewalled with his right pad, preventing the Wild from tying the game before the break.
Toronto improved to 8-1-3 in November despite a long list of injuries, with defensemen Jordie Benn, T.J. Brodie, Jake Muzzin and Morgan Rielly currently sidelined.
GAME NOTES
Marner’s streak is the longest by a Maple Leafs player in 28 years. … Tavares has 20 points in 20 career games against the Wild. … Fleury made 23 saves. … The Xcel Energy Center crowd observed a pregame moment of silence for Hall of Fame defenseman Borje Salming, who played 16 seasons for the Maple Leafs and died at 71 on Thursday. He had Lou Gehrig’s disease.
UP NEXT
Maple Leafs: Visit the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night.
Wild: Host the Arizona Coyotes on Sunday.
