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.

The Toronto Maple Leafs scored seven unanswered goals to overcome a three-goal first-period deficit for a 7-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night. Bobby McMann, Nicholas Robertson, William Nylander,

Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman #22 Jake McCabe (Steven Ellis/The Nation Network) Toronto Maple Leafs forward #88 William Nylander (Steven Ellis/The Nation Network) Toronto Maple Leafs forward #75 ...

Losers of three straight and starved for offense, some new statistics show that the Leafs need to make a trade to add some firepower if they want any success.

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.

Joseph Woll will start for the Maple Leafs. The Wild are on the front end of a back-to-back tonight. They play the Montreal Canad

When: Wednesday, 7 p.m., Scotiabank Arena TV: Sportsnet Radio: The Fan 590 Odds: Wild +119, Maple Leafs -147 The buzz After winning four in a row from Dec. 31 to Jan. 7, the Wild has lost six of its past nine games,

Toronto Maple Leafs forward John Tavares was spotted wearing a blue jersey at the optional morning skate on Wednesday. On Tuesday, he was seen on the ice ahead of the Leafs’ practice with Matthew Knies,

The Minnesota Wild last played away on January 26 against the Chicago Blackhawks. The Wild won by a score of 4-2 in regulation, and their current league record is 29-17-4 for a 0.620 Points %. Tied with the Leafs in Points %, the Wild are third in the central with a goal differential even more slight than the Leafs at +3.

NHL team bonding has moved away from partying in public settings to the quiet privacy of online gaming. At the same time, the drinking culture that was once pervasive across the league is waning while the use of cannabis products is on the upswing.

Leafs answered our poll. In part 1, we reveal the teammates most Leafs would like to be stuck with in an elevator, and more.

Asked about the state of extension talks with not only Marner but John Tavares and pending RFA Matthew Knies earlier this month, Leafs GM Brad Treliving said, “Those are things that we always are looking at and talking about and rumbling around, but nothing to report right now.”