Groulx, Tarasenko Score Twice, Leafs Hold Off Wild

 

The Wild hosted the Maple Leafs on Sunday, aiming for a win after their two previous losses, but unfortunately, they suffered their third straight loss. The Maple Leafs have been struggling lately, securing only their second win in 11 games, led by Bo Groulx's two goals and goals from Matthew Knies and Morgan Rielly. Anthony Stolarz stood tall between the pipes, making 36 saves for Toronto. Vladimir Tarasenko scored the two goals for Minnesota, and Ryan Hartman and Mats Zuccarello recorded a pair of assists each in the 4-2 loss. The Wild will head to the United Center on Tuesday to face the Chicago Blackhawks, while the Maple Leafs are back home to host the New York Islanders.

Toronto Maple Leafs Lineup:

Maccelli - Tavares - Nylander

Knies - Domi - Cowan

Joshua - Groulx - Robertson

Lorentz - Quillan - Jarnkrok

Rielly - Myers

McCabe - Carlo

Benoit - Stecher

Stolarz

Woll

Minnesota Wild Lineup:

Kaprizov - Hartman - Zuccarello

Johansson - Eriksson Ek - Boldy

Trenin - Yurov - Tarasenko

N. Foligno - McCarron - Sturm

Hughes - Faber

Brodin - Spurgeon

Middleton - Petry

Wallstedt

Gustavsson

Morgan Rielly opened the scoring early at 18:53 of the first period, putting the Maple Leafs ahead 1-0, scoring his ninth goal of the season. He chipped down from the point, took a cross-slot pass from Matias Maccelli, who received the puck from John Tavares, who was at the right wall, and he roofed it short side over Jesper Wallstedt. Not long after Rielly's game-opener, Bo Groulx made it 2-0 at 17:41 when he deflected a right point shot from Troy Stecher past Wallstedt after Jeff Petry turned the puck over below the goal line to Nicholas Robertson. Groulx increased the lead 3-0 with 11:42 on the clock after the puck found its way to him from the left corner when Matt Boldy attempted to clear it into the middle of the zone, and Groulx found the back of the net glove side from the top edge of the left circle for his second goal of the night and his third of the season.

After a scoreless middle frame, Vladimir Tarasenko cut the deficit 3-1 at 15:09 of the third period right off the face-off when he got a pass from Mats Zuccarello to tap it in past Anthony Stolarz near the left post for his 17th goal of the season. Tarasenko struck again only 23 seconds later to make it 3-2 off a pass from Ryan Hartman when he skated along the left boards, cutting to the circle, and scored glove side with a low wrister through a screen. With 37 seconds to go in the third, Matthew Knies scored an empty-netter for the 4-2 final, scoring his 18th goal of the season.

Notes:

- Jesper Wallstedt made a total of 22 saves for Minnesota.

- Minnesota is 38-18-12, and they've lost three straight (0-2-1), including a 4-2 loss to the New York Rangers on Saturday.

- Vladimir Tarasenko scored his two goals in 23 seconds, which is the second-fastest pair of goals by a player in franchise history. He's behind Pierre-Marc Bouchard (0:16 on February 10th, 2006).

- Bo Groulx entered the game with only two goals in 68 career NHL games.

- The Maple Leafs are 29-27-12, coming off a 3-2 shootout loss against the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday, but in their past three games, they're 2-0-1.