Jamal Mayers is checked by Krys Kolanos (39) on Tuesday. (Paul Battaglia/Associated Press)

Considering how the Toronto Maple Leafs played Tuesday night, Justin Pogge probably won't complain about returning to the AHL.

Promoted from the Toronto Marlies to make one start, Pogge was raked for six goals on 21 shots in a 6-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild at the Xcel Energy Center.

Pogge knew he would be returned to the AHL following the game, regardless of the outcome.

"Yeah, it is over," he said. "I cannot change the fact that I let in six."

Claiming Pogge will be "a great NHL goalie," Maple Leafs head coach Ron Wilson said: "This is a good experience for him, how he handles getting kicked around like that. We will see how he plays in the next couple games with the Marlies, but it will be a good experience for him."

It marked the second NHL start for Pogge, who beat the Atlanta Thrashers 6-2 last Dec. 22 but was the victim of several defensive breakdowns versus the Wild.

"We have got a lot of guys who have to show a lot more pride in their performance defensively than they're showing," Wilson said. "You should dig in a little harder when you have got a young kid playing goal."

Pierre-Marc Bouchard paced the Wild (24-20-3) with two goals and one assist.

Marc-Andre Bergeron, Cal Clutterbuck, Andrew Brunette and former Maple Leafs forward Owen Nolan completed the scoring.

Minnesota began the night ranked last in the NHL in even-strength goals (62), but scored all six in 5-on-5 situations.

"For us, to feel good that we can score some goals and make some plays and gain some confidence … getting even-strength goals is huge," Brunette said.

Jason Blake scored the lone goal for the struggling Maple Leafs (17-23-8), losers in eight of their last nine games and 12 of 15.

"Right now, it is a garden full of weeds and I need to pick some weeds," Wilson said. "It is as simple as that."

'You cannot blame him'

Clutterbuck opened the scoring 9:12 into the contest on a wrist shot from the circle that Pogge misplayed.

But Blake tied it 1-1 at 4:29 of the second period, settling a rebound with his right skate before flicking the puck into the net for his team-high 15th goal of the season.

Bergeron restored Minnesota's lead exactly one minute later, rifling the puck under the crossbar to spark a four-goal outburst in the final 14½ minutes of the second period, including three goals on three straight shots.

Pogge's unwillingness to play the puck off the boards led to the Wild's fourth goal, and he stood too deep in the crease to prevent Bouchard from scoring his second goal of the game on a partial breakaway with 1:46 left in the period.

"You cannot blame him," said Wild netminder Niklas Backstrom, who kicked out 27 of 28 shots.

"He made the saves he could. We scored three, four, five goals on empty netters."

With files from the Canadian Press