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.

John Hynes knows that William Nylander can lead the Maple Leafs out of the little hole they’ve dug for themselves. The Leafs have scored just two goals in losing their past two games, and neither came off the stick of Nylander after the star winger had four goals in the previous three games, all Toronto victories.

You can look to John Tavares and Matthew Knies’ imminent returns and hope they can spark the lineup, but this is still a team with Auston Matthews, William Nylander and Mitch Marner. Offence should not be this difficult and they have the raw talent to at least make games interesting. Tonight was far from it.

The Toronto Maple Leafs’ Core Four players, John Tavares, Auston Matthews, William Nylander, and Mitch Marner, are not just elite scorers. Together they are four players who, game after game, show a high hockey IQ.

Slugging from behind the entire evening, and balanced on the usual mid-season fan revolt, the Toronto Maple Leafs won their first game in more than a week on Thursday. William Nylander scored the overtime goal that put away the New Jersey Devils, led by former Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe.

William Nylander scored his second goal of the game at 1:10 of overtime and the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the visiting New Jersey Devils 4-3 on Thursday night.

Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube details how the team plans to move forward without the injured John Tavares.

It was only three games, this most recent losing skid for the Maple Leafs. And William Nylander made certain the slump wouldn't make it to four.

Toronto Maple Leafs stars Anthony Stolarz and John Tavares are struggling with injuries. NHL insider Darren Dreger provided updates on their return timelines during Friday’s First Up show.

Here’s a look at the injury report for the Toronto Maple Leafs (30-18-2), which currently has seven players listed, as the Maple Leafs prepare for their matchup with the Minnesota Wild (29-17-4) at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday,

Leafs winger William Nylander, who scored the only goal against the Wild and also hit the crossbar on a breakaway, said Toronto's tendency to use of five forwards on the power play has contributed to Rielly's dip.

Identifying the holes in the Leafs' lineup is fairly straightforward. Patching them at the trade deadline? Much less so.