Wild Warmup: Minnesota vs. Toronto

The essentials

The opponent

For the second time this season, the Minnesota Wild will avoid young superstar Austin Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs when the two teams play at Xcel Energy Center on Thursday night.
Matthews missed the earlier matchup in Toronto on Nov. 8 with an upper-body injury. After returning to the lineup, Matthews was hurt again last week and will miss his third-straight game on Thursday.
When in the lineup, Matthews has been outstanding, scoring 13 goals and adding 13 assists in 26 games this season to go along with a plus-13.
Toronto is not short of offensive firepower, however. In addition to Matthews, the team's leading scorer, the Leafs have five other players with at least 20 points this season, led by leading goal-scorer James van Riemsdyk, who has lit the lamp 15 times.
That depth was on display in the first matchup in Toronto, when four different players scored goals for the Maple Leafs. Jason Zucker had both goals for the Wild in a 4-2 loss at the Air Canada Centre.
Goaltender Frederik Andersen, who made 35 saves in the win over Minnesota last month, is 17-9-1 in 27 starts this season, posting a 2.69 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage.

Connections

• Wild head coach Bruce Boudreau was drafted in the third round (42nd overall) by Toronto in the 1975 NHL Entry Draft and skated in 134 games with the Maple Leafs, collecting 69 points (27- 42=69) over six seasons (1976-82).
• Minnesota assistant coach John Anderson was selected in the first round (11th overall) by the Maple Leafs in the 1977 NHL Entry Draft and played in 534 contests with Toronto, recording 393 points (189-204=393) in eight seasons (1977-85).
• Wild assistant coach Darby Hendrickson was selected by Toronto in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft and skated in 233 games with the Maple Leafs (1994- 99).
• Wild forward Chris Stewart is a Toronto native.
• Wild forward Daniel Winnik is a Toronto native and collected 39 points (11-28=39) and a plus-12 rating in 114 games in parts of two seasons (2014-16) with the Maple Leafs.
• Maple Leafs defenseman Jake Gardiner is from Minnetonka.
• Maple Leafs forward Dominic Moore recorded five points (3-2=5) in 40 games in parts of two seasons with Minnesota (2006-08).

Holiday plans

Thursday's contest is the Wild's second of a three-game homestand against Canadian opponents. The three games are Minnesota's only home contests in a stretch where the Wild plays 10 games in 19 days before Christmas Break (Dec. 5-23).