It wasn’t until William Nylander, the ‘Breakaway Man,’ went toe-to-toe with fellow Swede and Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson on yet another chance in alone but striking the

Squaring off with nearly identical records entering Wednesday’s contest, the Toronto Maple Leafs were presented with a key opportunity to get out of a rut against a quality Minnesota Wild team, with a four-game road trip on the horizon before the 4 Nations Face-Off break.

Among the NHL teammates who will be on opposite benches during the 4-Nations Face-Off include Toronto Maple Leafs stars Auston Matthews and William Nylander. Matthews, who grew up in Scottsdale, Ariz., will be representing the USA while Nylander will be representing his native Sweden.

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Barring any injuries, the Toronto Maple Leafs will have at least one player on each of the 4 Nations Face-Off rosters next month. Sweden’s lone Leafs representative, William Nylander, is no stranger to the national team program.

Matthews and Nylander both scored two goals as Toronto battled back from 2-1 and 3-2 deficits in the third period to beat New Jersey 4-3.

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. Toronto Maple Leafs’ William Nylander, right, celebrates after his winning goal against the New Jersey ...

The Wild have struggled since the injuries to these two occurred, winning just four of the 10 games since Brodin was injured, allowing 31.3 shots per game, and ranking 30th in GAA while allowing four or more goals in seven of the 10 outings.

Auston Matthews will head the United States’ leadership group at the 4 Nations Face-Off. USA Hockey announced on Thursday afternoon that the Maple Leafs captain will be its captain for the event in Montreal and Boston, running from Feb. 12-20. Matthew Tkachuk of the Florida Panthers and Charlie McAvoy each will wear an ‘A’ for the United States.

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.

The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning for the third consecutive time this season, winning 5-3 at Scotiabank Arena on Monday night. With the victory, the Leafs have scored five goals in each matchup and outscored their Atlantic Division opponent 15-8 over that stretch.