The Toronto Maple Leafs secured a 4-3 shootout victory against the Utah Hockey Club on Monday night at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, ending their three-game losing streak.
Toronto established a commanding 3-0 lead early in the game. William Nylander opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 12:42 of the first period, followed by Calle Jarnkrok’s power-play tally later in the period. Defenseman Simon Benoit extended the lead to three with a goal at 4:48 of the second period.
However, Utah responded with a trio of goals in the second period to level the score. Michael Carcone initiated the comeback at 8:14, Nick Schmaltz added another just 49 seconds later, and Barrett Hayton netted a power-play goal with 7:49 remaining in the period to tie the game at 3-3.
The game remained deadlocked through the third period and overtime, leading to a shootout. Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner both converted their attempts for Toronto, while goaltender Joseph Woll, who made 29 saves during regulation and overtime, secured the win by stopping Utah’s shooters.
“We got off to a great start,” Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube commented. “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.”
Utah’s head coach, Andre Tourigny, expressed mixed feelings about the outcome, stating, “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.”
The victory improved Toronto’s record to 39-22-3, while Utah fell to 28-25-11. The Maple Leafs will look to build on this momentum as they return home to host the Florida Panthers on Thursday.
