Against Minnesota, William Nylander provided Toronto’s lone goal. The defeat marked the team’s third straight regulation loss, a tough stretch before the Maple Leafs embark on a four-game Western Canada trip leading up to the 4 Nations Face-Off pause.
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.
Pacioretty is projected to return to the Maple Leafs' lineup against the Wild while Knies could be back on Saturday against Edmonton.
The Maple Leafs have officially ruled forward Matthew Knies out for the remainder of the Blue Jackets game with an injury.
The Toronto Maple Leafs faced a tough night on multiple fronts, suffering a 5-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday and seeing key forward Matthew Knies exit the game with an upper-body injury. The injury occurred late in the second period when Knies delivered a hit on Blue Jackets forward Kirill Marchenko but got the worst of it.