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.

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.

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.

With his recent comments, followed up by his performance in the Leafs' OT win Thursday, Nylander has proved he's the coolest cucumber in hockey, says Ken Campbell.

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.

Matthews was named captain of the Maple Leafs on Aug. 14, taking over for John Tavares, who passed along the role to star forward. Matthews is the 26th captain in the club's history and the first US-born player to wear the "C' for Toronto.

Following a well-attended Tuesday morning practice in Toronto, Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube provided an exciting update on John Tavares and Matthew Knies.

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. Nylander, who also had an assist, scored on a breakaway to end Toronto's three-game losing streak.

The Maple Leafs are down a trio of important forwards, but recent updates show they could be close to a return at a very crucial point in the season. Though

The Toronto Maple Leafs will be without veteran center John Tavares for the foreseeable future after he suffered an injury during a power-play drill at practice on Wednesday. The team announced that Tavares had been placed on injured reserve as a result of the injury, describing it as being an issue with his lower body.

The outcome of the dispute between the Maple Leafs' John Tavares and the Canada Revenue Agency could impact the ability of Canadian NHL teams to lure talent north of the border.