The Toronto Maple Leafs got their first taste of life without super sophomore Auston Matthews on Wednesday versus the Minnesota Wild, and survived the test with a 4-2 victory.

By no means was it the prettiest win, as Toronto was outshot 37-19, but it's a big two points nonetheless.

Here are three players who ensured the victory with Matthews serving as an onlooker.

Frederik Andersen

Andersen was far and away Toronto's best player, making 35 stops to give the Leafs a chance.

The Wild largely controlled play, and produced 32 scoring chances - 10 of which classified as high-danger - at 5-on-5 (Natural Stat Trick), but Andersen stood tall and was able to steal the win in one of his better performances this season.

Nazem Kadri

(Photo Courtesy: Getty Images)

Kadri gave the Leafs an early lead in the first period, while he and his line - featuring Leo Komarov and William Nylander - were the only Toronto forwards to record a positive shot differential at even strength.

If Matthews remains out, Toronto's reliance on Kadri as the No. 1 center, at both ends of the ice, will be of utmost importance.

Nikita Zaitsev

Zaitsev didn't contribute a point, but was noticeably solid alongside partner Jake Gardiner in ensuring Toronto survived Minnesota's onslaught as the game wore on. He was particularly strong on the penalty kill, where he logged a staggering 4:47 of ice-time.

At 5-on-5, Zaitsev led the way among Toronto defenseman with a Corsi-For percentage of 48.5, which, given how tilted the ice was in Minnesota's favor, is a respectable performance on a night that was more about survival than making the highlight reels.

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Mathew Barzal's NHL career didn't get off to a promising start like many other greats, but to both his and the New York Islanders' credit, patience seems to be producing results.

Barzal was plucked 16th overall by the Islanders in the 2015 draft - the infamous McDavid, Eichel year - with a pick that swapped between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Edmonton Oilers before landing with New York.

After tallying 57 points in 44 games with the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Hockey League in his draft year, he returned for his third season in the WHL and took a leap forward posting 27 goals and 88 points in 58 games, while also representing Canada at the world juniors.

Then came the 2017 campaign where he got his first true taste of the NHL. Barzal had an impressive training camp and made enough of an impression to earn a roster spot with the Islanders to begin the year.

Unfortunately for Barzal, it was an experiment that didn't last long. After just two games, while playing a combined 19:30 of ice time with no points to show for his effort, the former first-round selection returned to the Thunderbirds. It was at this point where Barzal deployed a tremendous work ethic to get back to the big stage.

Barzal - serving as the team's captain - tallied 79 points in 41 games, finishing just shy of a two points per game pace. He also returned to Canada's world juniors squad where he finished with eight points in seven games, while serving as an alternate captain, en route to a silver medal.

(Photo courtesy: Getty Images)

His stellar season continued as he tallied another 25 points in 16 playoff games, aiding the Thunderbirds to an Ed Chynoweth Cup victory and earning playoff MVP honors.

With this new-found confidence, Barzal came into training camp determined to cement himself a spot on the Islanders' roster. As fate would have it, he did just that. He was pointless in his first five games of the season, but after some fine tuning, he is now setting the league ablaze.

Over the past 10 games, Barzal has gone pointless just once, tallying three goals and 14 points, including a monstrous five-assist game during the Islanders' 6-4 win over the Colorado Avalanche.

His 14-point output has pushed him into a tie for second in rookie scoring with Vancouver Canucks forward Brock Boeser - putting him just three points back of rookie scoring leader Clayton Keller.

What's more impressive - and a sign of Barzal's professional growth - is he's earned the confidence of his coaches. Barzal is slotted on the club's second line alongside Jordan Eberle and Andrew Ladd and manning the point on their top power-play unit. In fact, during the team's recent 2-1 loss to the Oilers, Barzal played 18:59 minutes - the third-most among Islanders forwards, behind only John Tavares and Josh Bailey.

Further to that, Barzal is gaining confidence in himself, which was clear when he pulled off a ridiculous deke on Oilers defenseman Oscar Klefbom Tuesday night.

Things might not have gone as planned to begin his career, but after an incredible three weeks, Barzal looks to be a rising young talent in the NHL.

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Peter Forsberg may not have directly influenced the Colorado Avalanche in the trade that sent Matt Duchene to Ottawa, but the Hall of Famer is happy to see it resolved after recently suggesting the forward should have been benched in the meantime.

"I would say I'm happy that it got solved so quick afterward," Forsberg said Wednesday from Stockholm, per Dan Rosen of NHL.com. "I don't know if I had anything to do with it, but it got highlighted when I said something like that. I'm glad for all sides that it's solved."

"All sides" includes the Avs, Ottawa Senators, and Nashville Predators, who agreed on the blockbuster three-way trade on Nov. 5.

"I think it worked out for all three," Forsberg added. "When it comes to three teams it shows how complex the situation is, but I think all three teams benefit from where they are in their situations. I think everybody is happy with what they got and what they're going for."

Duchene, of course, is now a Senator and is getting ready to face off against his old team - who received a package of picks and prospects in return - during two games to be played in Sweden later this week.

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For the better part of 18 years, Hall of Fame netminder Billy Smith was the NHL's Public Enemy No. 1, abusing opposing players in a way that made him revered by New York Islanders fans - and reviled by everyone else.

But hacking shins and butt-ending kidneys is hard work. So should we really be that surprised that Smith - who racked up 489 career penalty minutes in the regular season and another 89 in the playoffs - occasionally liked to kick back with a fruity drink pond-side in full goalie gear while pondering the mysteries of the universe?

Longtime Getty Images sports photographer Bruce Bennett, who was responsible for the 1983 shoot, told theScore it was an assignment from a monthly magazine called “Inside Sports.”

"There was a small pond I knew of in Woodbury, New York that wasn’t far from the Islanders practice rink, and I floated the idea to him," Bennett said. "He was game. He got his equipment on in the parking lot and we walked over to the pond as I carried my father’s lounge chair.

"I shot a few up close and others from across the pond. I did a bunch on the lounge and then others just kneeling by the pond."

Kneeling, you say?

As great as it is to see "Battlin' Billy" smugly staring out across the water, dreaming of which Philadelphia Flyers forward he was going to shank next, there's more to this photo shoot. Much more.

"It was kind of a day in the life piece," Bennett said. "So I shot him driving his car and did some shots of Smith at his home, working and cutting firewood."

Whether channeling his inner Bob Vila ...

... or honing his role as Tom Selleck's stunt double ...

... or simply staring out into the vastness of rural New York ...

... it's clear there was a softer, gentler side to Smith, one that didn't involve weaponizing his Koho.

Bennett, who said the shoot lasted about 20 minutes, wishes he could have had more of an opportunity to work with players away from the sports sphere.

"Although I have proposed this sort of thing - players in full uniform in everyday locations - I can’t remember getting any other approvals to shoot these."

(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)

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While fighting in the NHL has been on the decline in recent years, some teams still have a habit of dropping the gloves.

Analyzing data from the 2000-01 season onward, OnlineCasino.ca found that the Philadelphia Flyers are most likely to engage in fights, averaging a league-high 66.5 per season. The Calgary Flames came in second, followed by the Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers, and Anaheim Ducks.

The study also looked at which rival teams square off the most. Leading the way are the Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins, who have a long history of mutual hostility.

(Photos courtesy: OnlineCasino.ca)

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Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews will miss the first game of his young NHL career on Wednesday against the Minnesota Wild as he deals with an upper-body injury, head coach Mike Babcock announced, according to TSN's Mark Masters.

Matthews had been dealing with soreness earlier in the week and after dressing in Monday night's game against the Vegas Golden Knights, was absent from practice on Tuesday.

He is considered day to day with the injury, Babcock confirmed, according to TSN's Kristen Shilton, meaning the 20-year-old will be watched closely heading into the weekend as the Maple Leafs will tangle with the Boston Bruins in a home-and-home battle Friday and Saturday.

Prior to Wednesday, Matthews had played all 98 of the Maple Leafs' games dating back to last season, in which he has tallied 50 goals and 88 points.

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In need of an offensive spark, Chicago Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville is hoping history can repeat itself.

While it's still early, his team sits fifth in the Central Division and is averaging fewer than three goals per game. As a result, Quenneville has decided to reunite a line of Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, and Patrick Sharp - a unit that helped Chicago come back from a 3-1 series deficit in a second-round series against Detroit en route to a Stanley Cup win in 2013.

The goal is to "create some magic," Kane told Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times.

Sharp rejoined the team on a one-year deal this past offseason after having been traded to Dallas in 2015. He's recorded two goals in 15 games this season, and explained why this line might be effective once again.

"Three different players," Sharp said. "You’ve got a playmaker/puckhandler (Kane), a grinder (Toews), and a shooter (Sharp). We all have speed, and we all kind of think the same way. It’s been awhile since we've been a unit ... but hopefully we can do something."

The unit's first test will come Thursday against Philadelphia.

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Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.