Among the NHL teammates who will be on opposite benches during the 4-Nations Face-Off include Toronto Maple Leafs stars Auston Matthews and William Nylander. Matthews, who grew up in Scottsdale, Ariz., will be representing the USA while Nylander will be representing his native Sweden.

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.

With the NHL getting ready to shut down soon for the first ever 4 Nations Face-Off, Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander was asked if there were any side bets among teammates that will be going up against each other.

Auston Matthews and William Nylander have been Toronto Maple Leafs teammates for nine seasons. They've displayed elite chemistry throughout their time together.

Matthews and Nylander both scored two goals as Toronto battled back from 2-1 and 3-2 deficits in the third period to beat New Jersey 4-3.

William Nylander scored his second goal of the game at 1:10 of overtime and the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the visiting New Jersey Devils 4-3 on Thursday night.

Barring any injuries, the Toronto Maple Leafs will have at least one player on each of the 4 Nations Face-Off rosters next month. Sweden’s lone Leafs representative, William Nylander, is no stranger to the national team program.

You can look to John Tavares and Matthew Knies’ imminent returns and hope they can spark the lineup, but this is still a team with Auston Matthews, William Nylander and Mitch Marner. Offence should not be this difficult and they have the raw talent to at least make games interesting. Tonight was far from it.

Filip Gustavsson made 31 saves as the Minnesota Wild edged Toronto 3-1 on Wednesday, sending the Maple Leafs to a third straight regulation loss.

The Minnesota Wild scored two first-period goals and got a 31-save effort from Filip Gustavsson to key a 3-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs Wednesday in Toronto.