Maple Leafs Fall 5-2 to Wild at Home for Fifth Straight Loss

The Toronto Maple Leafs lost 5-2 to the Minnesota Wild at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday night, their fifth straight defeat, with all five losses in a six-game homestand coming in regulation. Wild forward Matt Boldy scored a hat trick, and Kirill Kaprizov had three assists. (Photo: the Maple Leafs in action at Scotiabank Arena, file photo.)

Boldy's three goals settle it as Wild extend point streak to 10

Boldy opened the scoring at 17:53 of the first period. Auston Matthews and Zack MacEwen briefly put Toronto ahead 2-1 early in the second, but Boldy tied it 2-2 with a power-play goal at 9:55 and completed his hat trick at 3:59 of the third to make it 3-2. Michael McCarron and Danila Yurov, into an empty net, added goals for the 5-2 final. The Wild improved to 14-3-4, extending their point streak to 10 games and winning a seventh straight on the road.

Costly mistakes sink Leafs; coach rejects moral victories

The Leafs fell to 8-11-2. Goaltender Anthony Stolarz said the team played well for the most part but that big mistakes ended up in the back of the net. Head coach Jim Hiller said there could be no more moral victories: "We can't take moral victories where we are playing close and being in there and losing, we've done that too many (times)." Wild forward Joel Eriksson Ek left the game in the second period after colliding with Jake McCabe; coach John Hynes said he doesn't think it's anything serious and expects a better update on Friday.