Marcus Foligno (via Getty Images) Marcus Foligno gave a historic performance on Monday night, with his first career hat trick to lead the Minnesota Wild in beating the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-3 on the road. He completed his hat trick with an empty-net goal in the third period, breaking the home-winning streak of the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Minnesota Wild had the game in hand, going up by four before fending off their best effort in the third period. Their balanced attack, strong power play, and disciplined defensive systems overwhelmed the Maple Leafs, who opened a five-game homestand hoping to shake off an iffy road trip.
Minnesota Wild controls early stages of play to withstand Maple Leafs’ push
Marcus Foligno Notches First Career Hat Trick vs. Maple Leafs
The Minnesota Wild made little wait to set the tempo, burying a power play goal midway through the first period. Vladimir Tarasenko scored from a cross-crease pass to put Toronto on its heels and opened a multi-goal hole that Minnesota made no effort to fill, scoring again from the crease through Ryan Hartman to give it an early 2-0 edge. The Toronto Maple Leafs finally capitalized towards the end of the first period as John Tavares completed a power-play opportunity from the slot, reducing the gap by half and momentarily steadying the momentum. This surge was, however, short-lived for Toronto as Minnesota soon regained momentum in the early portion of the second frame. Foligno redirected a point shot, restoring the two-goal margin, paying homage to the Wild for their efforts in parking the presence in front of the crease and crowding the middle ice. The pace quickly escalated as Tarasenko dished past the defense and wristed the puck past Joseph Woll, giving the Blues a 4-1 lead. The Wild continued to apply pressure to the Toronto defense, and Foligno scored once more with the main advantage late in the second period, tipping the puck past the defense from the point to give the Wild a commanding lead going into the third period. Foligno sealed any hopes of a comeback attempt with an empty-net goal, finishing his hat trick in his 915th game in the NHL. This is a career milestone for the player, having only achieved 12 instances of scoring two goals in a game before this.