William Nylander dazzles with overtime winner as Maple Leafs beat Wild

William Nylander scored his team-leading 33rd goal of the season in overtime, giving the Toronto Maple Leafs a hard-fought 2-1 win against the Minnesota Wild on Friday.

The 26-year-old winger briefly lost possession of the puck in Minnesota’s zone in the extra frame before he was able to get it back, fight off Wild forward Matt Boldy, and fire it home, beating goalie Filip Gustavsson to win the game.

Nylander finished with a primary assist on David Kampf’s first-period goal, his sixth of the season, which evened the game at 1-1.

Mark Giordano also assisted on Kampf’s goal. Ilya Samsonov stopped 24 of 25 shots, making a few timely saves en route to the overtime win. Brandon Duhaime scored for the Wild.

After blocking three shots in the first 40 minutes, Giordano tied defenceman Kris Russell for the NHL record for most shots blocked with 2,044. Russell is currently a free agent.

Nylander, meanwhile, should easily surpass his career-high 34 goals scored last year — a total he set across 81 games, as the winger has now scored 33 goals in 59 games this season. He’s also on pace to eclipse the 90-point mark for the first time in his career.

The win gives Toronto temporary breathing room in the Atlantic Division standings, as they’re now four points (80) ahead of the third-place Tampa Bay Lightning (76).

On Sunday, the Leafs will travel to Seattle to face former assistant coach Dave Hakstol and the Kraken.