Minnesota Wild blank Toronto Maple Leafs 2-0

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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Minnesota Wild blank Toronto Maple Leafs 2-0. Here is the summary for the game played on Thursday, December 14, 2017

GAME SUMMARY         |           EVENT SUMMARY        |           FACEOFF SUMMARY

ON THE SCORESHEET

The Maple Leafs were held without a goal for the first time this season.

Frederik Andersen stopped 24 shots in the loss.

SHOTS FIRED

The Maple Leafs outshot the Wild by a 28-26 margin in all situations. Minnesota had a 23-18 lead in shots at 5-on-5.

Toronto had a 70-44 lead in shot attempts in all situations and a 49-38 lead in shot attempts at 5-on-5

Connor Brown, William Nylander and James van Riemsdyk each registered three shots on goal.

Connor Brown had a team-high eight shot attempts.

SHOTS ON GOAL

SHOT ATTEMPTS

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

The Maple Leafs are 10-7-1 on the road this season.

Toronto’s all-time record is 9-10-0-1 in 20 games against the Wild and 2-6-0-1 in games played in Minnesota.

Toronto is 10-6-0 against the Western Conference this season and 3-2-0 against the Central Division.

The Maple Leafs are 5-1-0 in the first leg of back-to-backs.

The Maple Leafs wrap up their road trip and the back-to-back on Friday, Dec. 15 when they visit the Detroit Red Wings at 7:30 p.m.

MAPLE LEAFS LEADERS

RECORD WHEN…

The Maple Leafs were 1-for-1 on the penalty kill and 0-for-4 on the power play tonight. Toronto is 12-5-1 when not allowing a power play goal this season and 10-7-1 when not scoring a power play goal.

Toronto is 4-8-1 when their opponent scores the first goal of the game.

The Maple Leafs are 2-8-0 when trailing after one period and 1-10-1 when trailing after two periods.

Toronto has a 3-5-1 record when outshooting their opponent.

The Maple Leafs are 2-3-0 in Thursday games.

OF NOTE…

Patrick Marleau won 78 percent (7 won, 2 lost) of his defensive zone faceoffs tonight.

Roman Polak skated in his 200th career game as a Maple Leaf.

Roman Polak was on the ice for a team-high 24 Toronto shot attempts-for at 5-on-5. Polak finished the game with a 5-on-5 shot attempt percentage of 75 percent (24 for, 8 against).

Nikita Zaitsev started 15.4 percent of his 5-on-5 shifts in the offensive zone, which is the lowest percentage among Toronto skaters.

UPCOMING GAMES:

Friday, Dec. 15 at Detroit Red Wings, 7:30 p.m. (TSN4, FAN 590)

Tuesday, Dec. 19 vs. Carolina Hurricanes, 2:00 p.m. (Sportsnet Ontario, FAN 590)

Wednesday, Dec. 20 at Columbus Blue Jackets, 7:30 p.m. (Sportsnet, TSN 1050)

Saturday, Dec. 23 at New York Rangers, 7:00 p.m. (Hockey Night in Canada, FAN 590)

Thursday, Dec. 28 at Arizona Coyotes, 9:00 p.m. (Sportsnet Ontario, FAN 590)

POSTGAME QUOTES:

HEAD COACH MIKE BABCOCK

On tonight’s game:

It was much the game I expected, to tell you the truth. I thought we did a lot of really good things. We turned it over on the first goal – and we actually did it on the second goal too – it was an east-west play, but we had lots of opportunities, lots of looks and played a pretty good road game.

On Minnesota’s defensive performance:

I don’t know why [Maple Leafs skaters] would be squeezing their sticks, they’ve got no reason for that. To me, we’re a team that feels pretty good about ourselves and playing pretty well. I don’t know what that would be about. To me, I thought their goaltender had a good game and I thought they protected him well. I didn’t think either team gave up very many opportunities so it was a night for the goaltenders that way. In the end, I don’t know how many power plays we had, but we had quite a few and then we also another power play with a 4-on-4 and a goalie pulled basically and we didn’t execute at all tonight on the power play. We weren’t dangerous enough on the power play so we have to get that fixed because that’s a critical part of the game.

On learning from Minnesota’s tight style:

They play tight but I think we’re seeing the League is real tight anyway. Teams are desperate each and every night and you’re getting a good, quality game each night. I don’t think there’s a whole lot of room out there when you play most teams. We knew coming in what to expect, we got exactly what we expected and, in the end, they found a way to win. We’ve got another game tomorrow, they’re going to play tight too. We’ve got to find a way to play tight and score more than they do.

FREDERIK ANDERSEN (24 SAVES)

On tonight’s game:

I think it was obviously a low-scoring game. I think we played pretty well. They did a good job of keeping us from the inside. They’re good with the sticks. We can’t hang our heads too low on this one, we did pretty well, we just couldn’t score.

On the play of the skaters in front of him:

I thought we played well, like I said. I thought we had some zone time up there and it was just tough to get it through. They’re good with their sticks and stay in the shooting lanes.

On preparing for the second game of a back-to-back:

It’s a new game tomorrow. We want to get back on track.

On trying to find ways to score more goals:

I think as the League goes on and the season goes on most teams get more defensive and better defensively. It’s going to be tougher to score, but I think sometimes you’ve just got to keep shooting and eventually it’s going to come and it’s going to come more.

MITCH MARNER (18:47 TOI)

On if the team had enough offensive pressure to win:

I think we had chances but I think a majority (of the game) we didn’t. They played a very solid defensive game, cutting a lot of chances out through the middle so I think this is just another learning experience. That’s another playoff-like hockey game with how hard they pack it and how hard they’re in the neutral zone. I think we’ve just got to get over this little leap that we’re on right now and get back to playing how we are.

On what the team needs to do to generate more offence:

We’ve got to throw pucks in more, get guys there and like I said, that was a playoff-like game, I felt. They were cutting down on a lot of chances, they were hard in the middle and weren’t giving you a lot of opportunity.

On how it feels to play in a game like this:

It felt like playoffs last year, just no chances. It felt like both teams were just cutting down chances through the neutral zone, not getting a lot of speed through. I think we had our chances to score but we missed a couple wide. We got unfortunate a couple of times, they didn’t miss their chances and that came back to haunt us.

On tonight’s forward lines:

I think everyone’s comfortable playing with each other in this room. We all have a lot of skill. We all believe in each other and like I said, I think we had chances out there, every single line.  They played well throughout the middle of the ice.

On what was said during the second intermission to spark the team in the third period:

I think we just realized, I think we’re just doubting ourselves too much right now. We’re not trusting ourselves with the puck. We’re giving it away too much and I think everyone in general in here has a lot more skill than we all think and we’ve got to start using that more on the ice and trust each other with the puck. I think when we start doing that it’s going to come out on the ice, it’s going to show and then we’re going to get more opportunities. At the same time, we’ve got to make sure we don’t get out of hand with that skill and we play a hard defensive game.

JAMES van RIEMSDYK (3 SHOTS)

On tonight’s game:

Yeah, they’re a strong defensive team. It kind of reminded me of a lot of similar stuff they did to us last time. They do a good job of making it tough to get inside and find your way towards their net. I thought we had a couple of decent looks, especially in the third period, but they made some good saves too.

On the third period:

I thought there was a couple of good chances, a couple of good looks. Just one of those games.

On if being shutout for the first time is a testament to the team’s offensive capabilities:

Yeah, we like to think we have some depth and different people that can chip in offensively. It makes it obviously hard for other teams to play against when you have good depth.

On banking points earlier this year being more important during weeks like this week:

I don’t know if I’d go that far. We’re taking it one game at a time and I thought we were right there for most of the night. Obviously, they capitalized on their chances and we didn’t capitalize on ours.

On tonight’s forwards lines:

There were lines that I think we’ve practiced with a couple times and played a couple of different games in. I thought there was some good chemistry and some decent looks at the net. It’s just a matter of burying some of the chances.