TORONTO – The Wild’s defense didn’t slow down Auston Matthews and the Maple Leafs, and their offense couldn’t outperform them.
That resulted in a lopsided 7-4 rout on Saturday at Scotiabank Arena after Marco Rossi gave hope to a Wild rally by scoring his first NHL goal.
But the Wild were no match for the Leafs’ stars.
Matthews had a field day, posting his second consecutive hat trick to start the season — the first time that’s happened in Toronto history. William Nylander chipped in two goals and an assist in front of Ilya Samsonov, who finished with 28 saves.
With the Wild trailing 4-2, Rossi batted the puck out of midair behind Samsonov at 9 minutes, 51 seconds of the second period, Rossi connecting on a Marcus Foligno rebound for his first goal.
For real.
In the season-opening 2-0 win vs. Florida on Thursday, Rossi tallied a third goal for the Wild, but the finish was called back because Foligno was off-side on the play.
That milestone, which will be memorialized by the puck that Foligno fished out of the net and threw to the Wild bench for safekeeping, seemed to ignite Rossi: He nearly delivered the equalizer in the third period with a shot in-tight vs. Samsonov, but the Toronto goalie kept the puck out.
That was as close as the Wild would get to pulling even.
At 9:54 of the third, a redirect in front by Calle Jarnkrok supplied the Leafs with a much-needed insurance goal before Matthews completed the hat trick at 10:25 on a wrap-around. Matthews became just the fifth player in NHL history to record a hat trick in each of their first two games to begin the season; Washington’s Alex Ovechkin was the last to do so in 2017-18.
Nylander added the extra point only 1:49 later against Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson, who was tagged for all seven goals after a 41-save shutout against the Panthers. Gustavsson had 26 saves.
Brandon Duhaime concluded the scoring with his first tally of the season at 17:32.
This track meet started after a battle between two familiar foes.
Former Wild forward Ryan Reaves crushed Rossi and Frederick Gaudreau with hits on the same shift in the first period and then went toe-to-toe with Foligno, their fight taking place while Gaudreau remained crumpled on the ice.
Eventually, Gaudreau skated off and although he didn’t finish the period, he did return for the second.
By then, the Wild were in a hole they’d never climb out of after blowing an early lead.
Ryan Hartman deflected in a Kirill Kaprizov shot 9:32 into the first period, but the advantage barely lasted a minute before Matthews took over.
Matthews, fresh off a hat trick in the Leafs’ first win of the season, was left alone in front to wire the puck by Gustavsson at 10:54.
His second arrived in another 1:41, his long-range throw on the power play catching the inside of the back post before falling behind the goal line. Then with 23 seconds to go in the first, Nylander swooped to the inside before tucking the puck around Gustavsson.
Toronto grew its lead only 3:35 into the second with another power play goal (2-for-3), a one-timer in tight from Tyler Bertuzzi.
As for the Wild’s power play, they blanked on their lone opportunity.
Still, a comeback didn’t look impossible because the Wild responded just 34 seconds after Bertuzzi’s goal, Matt Boldy flinging in a rising shot off the rush.
Add in Rossi’s first goal before the period ended, and the Wild actually had momentum going into the third.
But in time, the Leafs snatched that away and ran away for the decisive victory.