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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Nylander scored a goal in Wednesday's 3-1 loss to the Wild. Nylander struggled for a couple of weeks in late December and early January, but he's bounced back well. He has six goals and two assists over his last nine contests,