Maple Leafs recover for shootout win against Utah
The Toronto Maple Leafs blew a three-goal lead but were able to recover for a 4-3 shootout win against the Utah Hockey Club at Delta Center on Monday.
William Nylander, Calle Jarnkrok, and Simon Benoit scored, and Joseph Woll made 29 saves for the Maple Leafs (39-22-3), who ended a three-game losing streak. Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner each scored in the shootout.
“We got off to a great start,” Toronto coach Craig Berube said. “Our first period was really good. [We] made a couple of mistakes in the second… Right now, we’re fighting through some adversity and the guys came through in the third, did a good job and ended up winning the shootout.”
The Maple Leafs head home after playing 11 of 13 games on the road.
“We did what we had to do,” Berube said. “This has been a long stretch for us on the road. We’re 9-3-1 in this stretch, which is very good, so credit to our guys. They’re battling and they had the battle tonight.”
Barrett Hayton, Nick Schmaltz, and Michael Carcone scored, and Karel Vejmelka made 23 saves for Utah (28-25-11), which has lost three of four.
“There’s a level of frustration we didn’t get [two points], but there’s a huge level of pride in the character we showed and how we managed our emotions, how we managed the game in those tough situations,” Utah coach Andre Tourigny said.
Nylander gave the Maple Leafs a 1-0 lead on the power play at 12:42 of the first period, scoring with a wrist shot from the left circle past the blocker of Vejmelka.
“I think we started the game pretty well and then we let them back in the game,” Nylander said. “I thought we did a good job battling. And I mean, especially in OT, there was a long shift there. But Woll played great and kept us in the game for the most part.”
Jarnkrok made it 2-0 at 19:38, scoring a power-play goal off a pass from Max Domi. It was his first goal since Jan. 6, 2024.
“It was nice, but it was especially nice to get the win,” said Jarnkrok, who missed 61 games this season recovering from sports hernia surgery. “It was a good feeling. First win of the season for me, so it was nice.”
Benoit scored on a wrist shot from the point to push the lead to 3-0 at 4:48 of the second period.
“I just want to win,” said Benoit, who scored his first goal since Jan. 27, 2024. “At this point of the season, we just want to get those two points. They’re important. We want to finish first in our division, so for me, as long as we win, I don’t care about the rest.”
Utah scored three goals in a span of 3:57 to tie the game.
Carcone made it 3-1 at 8:14 when he tipped in a shot from Josh Doan.
Schmaltz then scored at 9:03, tapping in a pass from Olli Maatta to cut it to 3-2.
Hayton tied it 3-3 with a power-play goal at 12:11 when the puck deflected off him past Woll.
“I think as the game went on, we got better,” Keller said. “Guys stepped up in big moments. [Kesselring] got us going there with the fight, that was awesome for us and really elevated us. We scored two quick goals, and it [stinks] to not get the two points tonight. But I think everyone dug in tonight. We stayed together no matter what was going on.”
