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.

Morgan Rielly is used to contributing with the puck on his stick. The Maple Leafs defenceman had a career-high 68 points a couple of years back and chipped in another 58 last season as part of a well-oiled attack.

The Maple Leafs captain is scoring all the time again, but is he back to peak Matthews? Also, what's behind Rielly's struggles?

After a stretch of 12 mediocre games with terrible underlying numbers, the Leafs finally looked like the contenders they're supposed to be.

"It's been steady. I've been feeling good," Matthews said. "I think it's been pretty good since I've been back. I've been feeling better and better every night. So, you know, I just want to keep that going.

A weekly gauge of the players who are controlling substantial buzz around the league. When a player is included on this list it may not be a good thing -- it means that they are capturing a large amount of the hockey world's attention.

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.

Jared Spurgeon and Marat Khusnutdinov scored in the first period, Filip Gustavsson stopped 31 shots, and the Minnesota Wild beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-1.

“It can be the most random time in the summer and no matter what, you’ll see 'RR' pop up on your phone,” Nick Robertson said. Every group chat needs an instigator; someone to keep the dialogue alive during low points. On and off the ice, Reaves fills that role.

Crag Berube was forced to shuffle the Leafs' lines at practice ahead of Wednesday's game against the Minnesota Wild with the imminent return of Max Pacioretty.

Depth down the middle is viewed as a must come playoff time, and the Toronto Maple Leafs are believed to be shopping in that market. Sportsnet’s Ryan Dixon breaks down the team’s trade options at centre.

It’s often been said that the Toronto Maple Leafs are the passion that unites us all, and that’s starkly evident on an unseasonably warm Monday in January, ahead of the team’s annual outdoor practice.