Hockey

Utah Mammoth Edge Maple Leafs 5-4 Despite Toronto’s Late Push

By Hugo Brennan

Utah Mammoth Edge Maple Leafs 5-4 Despite Toronto’s Late Push

Utah built a three-goal second-period cushion, then had just enough left in the tank to survive a furious Toronto finish Tuesday night, beating the Maple Leafs 5-4 at Delta Center.

Dylan Guenther and Mikhail Sergachev each posted a goal and an assist for the Mammoth, while Karel Vejmelka turned aside 22 shots. Utah improved to 5-2-0 and has won three of its past four games.

Toronto, which arrived on a 2-0-1 run, dropped to 3-3-1 despite a goal and an assist apiece from Auston Matthews and John Tavares. Anthony Stolarz made 23 saves in the loss.

Utah grabbed control in the first two periods

  1. MacKenzie Weegar’s first-period play at the blue line set up Utah’s opening goal at 14:55. Daniil But stepped around Morgan Rielly and beat Stolarz on the short side from beneath the right circle.

  2. Vincent Trocheck doubled the lead just 1:00 into the second. He slipped a blind backhand feed to Logan Cooley, then went to the net as Cooley returned the puck through a sprawling Darren Raddysh. Trocheck finished the give-and-go from the top of the crease.

  3. Sergachev made it 3-0 at 4:01 while Utah was shorthanded. Barrett Hayton’s attempt was blocked by Nick Blankenburg, but Sergachev found the loose puck beside the net and pushed it past Stolarz.

  4. Matthews got Toronto on the board 1:15 later with a power-play finish. Tavares found him alone in front after Utah’s four penalty killers had shifted to one side of the ice, and Matthews moved to his backhand before beating Vejmelka.

  5. Guenther restored the three-goal margin at 14:17, firing from the top of the right faceoff circle and beating Stolarz on the blocker side for a 4-1 lead.

  6. Toronto answered at 16:29. Matthews fed Kirill Marchenko from behind the net, and Marchenko spun before delivering a no-look backhand pass across the slot to Jack Roslovic. Roslovic’s shot struck the post and went in.

  7. Weegar gave Utah a 5-2 edge at 19:20, taking a Clayton Keller drop pass at the left dot and squeezing a shot between Stolarz’s blocker and chest.

Maple Leafs nearly complete the pushback

Tavares cut the deficit to two on a third-period power play at 7:12. Stolarz sent him ahead with a lead pass, and Tavares entered the Utah zone before going over Vejmelka’s glove from the left dot.

The Leafs pulled within one at 11:01 while a delayed penalty gave them a 6-on-5 setup with Stolarz on the bench. William Nylander found Gavin McKenna below the left circle, and McKenna scored past a sprawling Vejmelka to extend his point streak to four games. During that stretch, McKenna has two goals and three assists.

Toronto had one final chance when Guenther went off for tripping with 1:46 remaining. Stolarz again headed to the bench, creating a 6-on-4 advantage, but Utah’s penalty kill closed the door and protected the one-goal result.

Notebook

  • Guenther finished with one goal and one assist.

  • Sergachev recorded a shorthanded goal and an assist.

  • But, Trocheck and Weegar supplied Utah’s other goals.

  • Matthews and Tavares each had a goal and an assist for Toronto, with McKenna and Roslovic also scoring.

  • Vejmelka made 22 saves, while Stolarz stopped 23 shots.