In the 2020s, there has yet to be a single calendar year where the Toronto Maple Leafs and Utah Mammoth (or Arizona Coyotes before them) split their head-to-head matchup. I don’t mean a tie either – I just mean not a sweep. Yesterday, the Leafs tried to change that rule, but lost a 3-2 nailbiter that gave the Mammoth all three wins in 2026, and both available wins this season.
The Rundown
The Mammoth laid on most of the first period pressure, creatting several short-range scoring chances from the opening minutes and never laying off the gas, even when on the penalty kill. The Leafs were able to withstand this for a bit, but the bubble eventually popped when Jack Roslovic took a penalty late in the frame. With twelve seconds remaining in the first, Dylan Guenther ripped a long-distance wrist shot through a screen and past Sergei Bobrovsky to give Utah the lead.
Toronto tied the game midway through the second on the very defintion of a broken play. After Troy Stetcher had a scoring chance in tight disrupted by an exploding stick, Auston Matthews won a board battle behind the net, slipped the puck to Roslovic, and he got to nullfiy the tally his own penalty caused with a long-range wrister of his own. Utah regained the lead a few minutes later with another shot from up high from Andrew Peeke, though not without controversy as Barrett Hayton’s skates collided with Bobrovsky’s. Toronto ultimately chose not to challenge for goaltender interference.
With a little over ten mintues remaining in regulation, Roslovic made another big impact, finding open space during a Utah line change and burying a backhand in tight to tie the game. Suddenly the Leafs, who had been chipping away at Utah throughout the third, had life again. However, a tangle-up between Hayton and Darren Raddysh two minutes became consequential when Raddysh decided to give Hayton an extra cross-check on hte ice. The officials called it, Nick Schmaltz capitalized, and that ended up being the game winner.
Notes
- Sergei Bobrovsky was better tonight, stopping more than you should realistically expect him and not conceding anything particularly egregious.
- I’m back and forth on the Peeke goal and whether the Leafs should’ve challenged. I think he interferes with Bobrovsky’s ability to make a save. I can also see the argument that Bobrovsky is outside of his crease and that the contact is incidental. I feel like it fit the vibe of inteference but from a technicality standpoint, I understand not wanting to risk having the goal still count and taking a penalty for a bad challenge afterwards without being absolutely sure.
- I’m not sure how a trade between the Arizona Coyotes and Vancouver Canucks finds a way to keep punishing in a Toronto/Utah game, but all I know is that Dylan Guenther scored yet another goal against Toronto and the Leafs were speedbagged when Oliver Ekman-Larsson is on the ice.
- I feel for Darren Raddysh a bit. He’s trying really hard to sell himself as worth the hype and expectation and while he’s been good in a lot of under-the-radar ways, he hasn’t had many big plays to endear himself to the average fan yet, and I bet that’s under his skin a bit. He took full responsiblity for the penalty on Hayton that led to the game winner, and while “better safe than sorry” may have been a better approach there, it is a little wild that the refs deemed this a “take one” scenario late in a tie game. Hayton could’ve easily also been penalized for holding Raddysh’s stick in the seconds prior. For that to be a game-deciding decision is a real shame.
- I said it after the last Mammoth game and I’ll say it again – unless it gets in the way of a more substantial move or he extends there first, get ready for the Leafs to take a serious look at Barrett Hayton in the summer.
- This team despartely needs Kirill Marchenko and John Tavares back. Scoring waves help even the best team, and there’s only so many nights that the Matthews line can do this themselves.
- Jack Roslovic picked up both of Toronto’s goals, continuing to deliver on what was likely their best signing of free agency, but wasn’t available to reporters after the game and is taking a maitenence day on Wednesday in lieu of practice. Hopefully not a case of him being banged up in a serious way, given his run of form.
Up Next
The Maple Leafs get a few days off here before a back-to-back weekend begins on Saturday with a date against the Montreal Canadiens. Puck drop will be at 7:00 p.m.
Numbers Game
| Top Performers | Bottom Performers | Top Opponents |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Auston Matthews (3.92) 0G, 2A, 5 SOG, +2, 62% xG | 1. Oliver Ekman-Larsson (-2.99) 0G, 0A, 3 SOG, 6% xG | 1. Clayton Keller (3.82) 0G, 3A, 5 SOG, +1, 77% xG |
| 2. Jack Roslovic (3.33) 2G, 0A, 4 SOG, +2, 62% xG | 2. Colton Sissons (-1.94) 0G, 0A, 1 SOG, -1, 6% xG | 2. Mikhail Sergachev (3.24) 0G, 2A, 1 SOG, 71% xG |
| 3. Morgan Rielly (2.90) 0G, 1A, 1 SOG, +2, 52% xG | 3. Vinni Lettieri (-1.79) 0G, 0A, 0 SOG, 1% xG | 3. Anders Lee (2.65) 0G, 1A, 3 SOG, +1, 87% xG |
| Shots On Goal | 36-29 UTA | Faceoffs | 29 for 52 |
| 5v5 Shot Attempts | 57-49 UTA | Hits | 23-22 TOR |
| 5v5 Expected Goals | 2.78-1.55 UTA | Blocked Shots | 18-14 UTA |
| Best Period (xG) | 5v5: 3rd (73%) All: 3rd (60%) | Powerplay | 0 for 2 (4 shots) |
| Worst Period (xG) | 5v5: 1st (9%) All: 1st (19%) | Penalty Kill | 2 for 3 (7 shots) |
Table 1: Game Score via Dom, HockeyStatCards reccomended for full-game results
Table 2: Derived from NHL.com and Natural Stat Trick
Heatmap: via Natural Stat Trick
